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Sri Lanka to witness major political changes

V.S. Sambandan

The prospects have dimmed for Anura Bandaranaike as he had not participated in Mr. Rajapakse's rallies

COLOMBO: Major political changes are in the offing in Sri Lanka following the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse on Friday.

The imminent changes are in Government as well as within the two main political parties — the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Opposition United National Party.

With Mr. Rajapakse assuming the Presidency, the two immediate vacancies are that of the Prime Minister and an MP for the southern Hambantota district, which he represented. Mr. Rajapakse resigned as MP after being sworn in as President, in accordance with a constitutional requirement.

Technically the first person to be considered for the Premiership is the Foreign Affairs Minister, Anura Bandaranaike. When the SLFP chose Mr. Rajapakse as its Presidential candidate, it also named Mr. Bandaranaike as its Prime Ministerial candidate in the event of a victory for Mr. Rajapakse.

On the policy front, Mr. Rajapakse will have to name a new Cabinet. In his inaugural address he also said that a "new budget" would be presented before the Parliament, based on his election manifesto, replacing the present one submitted on November 8.

Changes are also in the offing in the UNP, with the party chairman, Malik Samarawickreme, sending in his resignation to the party leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, UNP sources said. There is no official comment from the UNP.

President Rajapakse's cousin, Nirupama Rajapakse, has been proposed to replace him as the MP.

There is no official reversal yet of the SLFP's decision naming Mr. Bandaranaike as its Prime Ministerial choice in the event of a victory for Mr. Rajapakse. The new President has not commented on this issue.

SLFP insiders, however, say the prospects have now dimmed for the Foreign Affairs Minister as he had not actively participated in Mr. Rajapakse's election rallies.

Mr. Bandaranaike's stated position for distancing himself from the campaigns were Mr. Rajapakse's poll-pacts with the JVP and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), whose unitarist policies ran counter to that of the SLFP.

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