JVP meets SLFP to decide on joining UPFA government

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 September 2006, 17:35 GMT]
Final phase of talks between Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the main constituent of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Sinhala ultra nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), aimed at finding ways to join JVP with the ruling government, took place Friday evening in Colombo.



A group of SLFP ministers led by Maithiripala Sirisena was scheduled to participate in the talks with the JVP delegation headed by Tilvin Silva, General Secretary of the JVP.

Earlier it was expected President Mahinda Rajapakse would participate in the talks. The talks were earlier fixed for Friday morning, but were postponed to the evening.

The JVP had put forward twenty demands for it to join the UPFA government.

Informed sources said that the SLFP had already agreed to accommodate most of the demands except four demands that included the abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement, de-merger of the NorthEast, withdrawal of Norwegian facilitation role in the peace process and the reduction of Cabinet rank ministers to 30.