Sri Lankan peace hopes jeopardised by election result

SRI LANKA: As Sri Lanka's President, Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, struggled yesterday to form a coalition following an indecisive…

SRI LANKA: As Sri Lanka's President, Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, struggled yesterday to form a coalition following an indecisive vote in the country's general election, Tamil Tiger rebels warned that they would revert to war unless they were assured of self-rule in the east and north of the island republic.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) served notice on Mrs Kumaratunga even before she could form an alternative administration to replace that of her political rival, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is expected to step down shortly.

The outgoing prime minister warned that since no party had won a majority sufficient to ensure a stable government, the fragile peace talks with the Tamil Tigers were in jeopardy. "There is no way a new government can move forward on the peace process and the economy," Mr Wickremesinghe said.

Mr Wickremesinghe's administration had succeeded in revitalising Sri Lanka's economy during the past two years and had negotiated a halt to the LTTE's 20-year-long civil war aimed at achieving an independent Tamil homeland in the island's north and east. The conflict has claimed more than 65,000 lives.

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Since 2002, Sri Lanka's economy has recovered from a negative GDP to a healthy 6 per cent annual growth rate.

Mrs Kumaratunga called elections after dismissing the parliament controlled by Mr Wickremesinghe, accusing him of conceding too much to the Tamil Tigers, an assertion he denies.

But the outcome gave her Freedom Alliance only 105 seats, eight short of an absolute majority in the 225-member parliament, forcing her to look to smaller parties for support.

It also polarised the island, with the southern part voting against the peace process by overwhelmingly endorsing Mrs Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance while the northern and eastern Tamil-dominated areas elected 22 members from the LTTE's proxy, the Tamil National Alliance.