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Chandrika invites Wickremesinghe to form Govt.
By Nirupama Subramanian
COLOMBO, DEC. 7. The Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, today invited Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the United National Party-led opposition, for discussions on Saturday to form the Government, following its victory in the just concluded parliamentary election.
After consultations with representatives of all political parties, the Election Commissioner decided not to order repolling in several areas from where reports of electoral malpractice and violence had come in and announced the final results this afternoon.
The United National Front (UNF) emerged as the single largest grouping in the 12th Parliament, winning 109 seats in the 225-member House, but four short of a majority. The party obtained 45.6 per cent of the total vote against the People's Alliance's 37.3 per cent, which got it 77 seats.
The radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which improved its performance further this election over the last, received 9.1 per cent of the vote and won 16 seats. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which campaigned on a pro-LTTE plank, won 15 seats in the northeast to emerge as the fourth largest force in Parliament.
In a communique today, Ms. Kumaratunga said she would use her constitutional powers ``to honour the will of the people as expressed in the election''. A separate statement from the Presidential Secretariat said Ms. Kumaratunga had invited the UNP leader to the President's House on Saturday ``to discuss measures that need to be taken with regard to the appointment of a Prime Minister for the 12th Parliament and for the appointment of Ministers of the Cabinet''.
Although the invitation stopped short of asking Mr. Wickremesinghe to form the next Government, the PA spokesman, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, said his party had accepted defeat and that it was now up to the UNP leader to form the Government ``as soon as possible''.
In this task the UNF is expected to seek the assistance of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) which won five seats. Some of its members who contested under the UNF banner have also been elected.
Like the PA Government that has just been voted out, the next Government too will have a a slender majority in Parliament, but it is believed that it could also gain outside support from the TNA. Mr. Wickremesinghe, who managed to stave off a challenge to his leadership of the UNP earlier this year to steer his party to victory, said the people had given him the mandate to restore peace in the country and revive its economy.
``It's a people's victory and not just a political victory for our party,'' he told journalists as the results came in. Appealing to his supporters for muted celebrations, he asked them not to take out victory processions or rallies. Post- election celebrations in Sri Lanka have a history of turning violent against losers.
Describing it as the beginning of ``a new era of peace'', he promised to establish a new political culture that would avoid confrontation.
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