LSSP, CP agree to join SLFP-JVP alliance

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 17:13 GMT]
Half a century old leftist political parties, Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and Communist Party (CP) agreed to join the recently formed United Peoples' Freedom Alliance. Leaders of LSSP and CP are to sign the Memorandum of Understanding in this regard with the leaders UPFA on Tuesday, sources said.

The leaders of the LSSP and CP decided to join the political alliance UPFA which was formed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the chief opposition Peoples' Alliance (PA) and Sinhala nationalist-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) following talks with Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge last Thursday at the Presidential Secretariat, sources said..

LSSP and CP leaders in their discussion with Ms.Chandrika Kumaratunge demanded that political solution to ethnic conflict should be found on the basis of devolving powers to the regions and a that compromise solutions should be found to national problems through discussion between ruling and opposition parties.

The President accepted the two demands and making the way for the two leftist parties to join the UPFA and to contest on the UPFA ticket, CP spokesman and a former parliamentarian Mr.Raja Collure told media persons in Colombo.

Both parties would be given some places in the UPFA lists of candidates to contest the forthcoming general election, sources added

Earlier the LSSP decided not to join the UPFA for its chauvinistic approach to national problems. But later it changed its stance to contest the forthcoming general election as constituents of the UPFA.

Already the National Unity Alliance (NUA), which is led by Ms Ferial Ashraff, wife of late Muslim leader Mr.M.H.M.Ashraff who was the founder of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the NUA, has joined the UPFA.