SLMC to go solo in contests for 13 districts

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 February 2004, 00:45 GMT]
The politburo of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has decided to contest thirteen districts, including Colombo, Kandy, Gampaha and Amparai, without an alliance with other parties in the forthcoming parliamentary general elections, said SLMC general secretary Mr. Hassanaly, according to a news bulletin carried by the State-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Friday evening.

The SLBC news broadcast quoted Mr.Hassanaly as saying further, "My party has been prepared to contest nine other districts in the country in an alliance with any major political parties if they accepted our six proposals including the one that the SLMC would be recognized as a separate entity at the future peace talks held between the government and the LTTE."

Political observers said that the SLMC has been having talks with the ruling United National Front (UNF) leaders about nine other districts, including Trincomalee and Batticaloa, to forge an election alliance.