The Hindu : SLFP seeks dissolution of Sri Lankan Parliament

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 06, 2004

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International

SLFP seeks dissolution of Sri Lankan Parliament

By V.S. Sambandan

COLOMBO, FEB. 5. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) today requested the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, to dissolve the island-nation's Parliament and call general elections.

There has been no response from Ms. Kumaratunga, who is also the leader of the SLFP, to the request made by party leaders and MPs at a workshop here today to chart out a course of action to work with its new ally, the left-nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

Denying a news report by the state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation tonight that Ms. Kumaratunga had ``accepted the request,'' her spokesman, Janadasa Peiris, said, ``except expressing her view that progressive alliances had in the past won people's approval, the President has not given any indication.''

The SLFP's call for dissolution of Parliament is similar to that of the JVP, which wants early polls. The two parties formed an electoral alliance on January 20, the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), and agreed on five broad objectives for governance.

The new alliance, however, is yet to announce its office-bearers or register itself as a separate political party.

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