SLFP- JVP electoral alliance to be decided Monday

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 November 2003, 18:26 GMT]
An emergency meeting of the central working committee of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), chief constituent of the main opposition Peoples Alliance (PA) will be held Monday at the President House to decide on forging a political and electoral alliance with Sinhala nationalist cum Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and to decide the future course of action to solve the current political crisis, political observers said Sunday.

President Ms Chandrika Kumaratunge will chair the crucial SLFP central working committee and she is expected to brief her members about the outcome of the talks she had held with the leaders of other political parties with regard to her latest proposal of forming a national alliance government to diffuse the current crisis, Colombo political sources said.

The final round of renewed political negotiation between the leaders of the SLFP and JVP held Thursday night at the Presidential House regarding the formation of a political alliance to defeat the United National Front government collapsed following the opposition by the SLA general secretary Mr.Maitripala Sirisena that his party's central working committee should be consulted before signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties, political sources said.

The sudden collapse of the talks came as a shock to both parties and their leaders had already formulated a constitution for the electoral alliance and fixed the date and venue for signing the Memorandum of Understanding by the leaders of the two political groups, sources said.

A ceremony to mark the occasion of signing the MoU by both political parties was scheduled to take place on November 18 at the Independence Square in Colombo, political sources said.