UNP to re-evaluate support to UPFA, Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 July 2006, 16:23 GMT]
Amid speculation that two more parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) are expected to join the United Peoples Front Alliance (UPFA) government led by the SL President Mahinda Rajapakse in the next week, the UNP leadership has summoned the working committee for Tuesday to take a firm decision on the question of extending its unconditional support to Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse anymore to resolve the ethnic issue, according to UNP sources. The party has decided to boycott the All Party Conference.

UNP Parliamentarians P.B.Ekanayake representing the Anuradhapura district in the North Central Province and Navin Dissanayake representing the Nuwara Eliya district in the Central Province are expected to cross over to the government side this week or when parliament resumes it sitting on July 18.

Both the parliamentarians have been promised deputy ministerial portfolios.

Mr.Navin Dissanayake is expected to be made Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, UPFA sources told media.

Meanwhile the inaugural meeting of 15-member multi-ethnic advisory board which has been tasked to formulate political proposals is to be held on Tuesday together with the All Party Conference (APC) under the chairmanship of Mahinda Rajapakse, the UPFA sources said.

The UNP has already decided to boycott the APC.

The UPFA government has requested political parties represented in parliament to send each representative to the APC.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has not been invited for the APC, TNA sources said.