Sri Lankan president asks her alliance to form government

Election workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, count ballots on Wednesday

October 13, 2000
Web posted at: 2:51 PM HKT (0651 GMT)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Reuters) -- Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga invited her People's Alliance to form the new government on Friday, after winning the most seats in this week's violence-plagued general elections.

Incumbent Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was due to take new oaths later in the day.

"The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for this afternoon," said a senior government official, who declined to be identified.

It wasn't immediately clear if the cabinet would be announced as the country is observing two days of mourning following the death of former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Kumaratunga's mother, who will be given a state funeral on Saturday.

AUDIO Dr. Arjuna Parakrama, a spokesman for the independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence, talks about the fairness of elections in Sri Lanka 218K/20 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Rebellion in Sri Lanka

Bandaranaike, the world's first woman premier, died on election day on Tuesday soon after casting her vote.

Kumaratunga invited her People's Alliance, in power since 1994, to form the government even though it was short of an absolute majority in the 225-seat parliament.

It won 107 seats in Tuesday's elections which were rocked by murders, bomb blasts and ballot rigging. The main opposition United National Party (UNP) won 89 seats.

"The PA is the largest party in parliament and I have no choice but to invite them to form the government," Kumaratunga told state television.

Wickremanayake was prime minister in the outgoing PA government.

The PA has been assured of support by the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a former rebel group now in mainstream politics, which has five seats in parliament.

The PA has also been in talks with the largely Muslim National Unity Alliance (NUA), which controls 10 seats, four in its name and the rest through candidates who contested the election on the PA ticket.

Ballots from the elections in Sri Lanka

The remaining seats were shared by the leftist People's Liberation Front (JVP) and minority Tamil parties. The UNP is also trying to cobble together a coalition with smaller Tamil parties and the JVP, which together have 19 seats.

But that task looked difficult without the support of the NUA.

Tuesday's vote was a key test of Kumaratunga's plan to end the country's 17-year war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)in which more than 61,000 people have died.

Kumaratunga is pursuing a twin strategy of trying to crush the LTTE militarily while making constitutional concessions to minority Tamils for whom the guerrillas want a separate state.

The UNP favors a cease-fire and talks with the guerrillas before constitutional amendments.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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