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Sri Lankans abandon PM in election

Apr 4 (TS) Sri Lanka's fledgling peace process suffered a major setback over the weekend as voters abandoned the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in crucial parliamentary elections. more..

Sri Lanka faces economic shift with new government

Apr 4 (Reuters) Sri Lanka was likely to shift its economic focus after the election of a new, more left-leaning government at the weekend that could alter the island's two-year programme of privatising state assets and courting investment. more..

President 'wins' Sri Lanka poll

Apr 4 (BBC) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party is set to become the largest party in parliament following elections. Her United People's Freedom Alliance party is well ahead of Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe's party, with three-quarters of the votes counted. more..

Hung parliament could strangle peace bid

Apr 4 (AFP) A hung parliament resulting from Sri Lanka's elections could further hamper efforts to end three decades of ethnic war as a weak government cannot engage in tough talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, diplomats and analysts said. more..

"TNA solidly stands behind ISGA"-Sampanthan tells UNF

Apr 4 (TN) "We have been closely watching the current political situation," TNA leader and the re-elected Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan told Mr.Bradman Weerakoon, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in a telephonic conversation initiated by the latter Sunday morning, more..

Districts Results: Seats won - 2

Colombo: UNP:9(41.88%) UPFA:8(39.2%) JHU:3(18.0%)
Kandy: UNP:6(50.0%) UPFA:5(42.7%) JHU:1(6.7%)
Nuwara Eliya: UNP:4(54.0%) UPFA:2(25.3%) UCPF:1(15.2%)
Galle: UPFA:6(56.6%) UNP:4(38.7%) JHU:0(4.2%)
Jaffna: ITAK:8(90.6%) EPDP:1(6.6%) IND1:0(1.8%)
Batticaloa: ITAK:4(66.7%) SLMC:1(17.9%) UPFA:0(10.9%) UNP:0(2.6%)
Anuradhapara: UPFA:5(57.2%) UNP:3(39.9%) JHU:0(2.2%)
Ratnapura: UPFA:6(53.1%) UNP:4(41.8%) JHU:0(4.2%)
Digamadulla: UPFA:3(38.5%) SLMC:2(26.4%) ITAK:1(19.1%) UNP:1(14.5%)
Kurunegala: UPFA:9(51.9%) UNP:7(42.9%) JHU:0(4.7%)
Total (Seats): UPFA:92(45.6%) UNP:71(37.8%) ITAK:20(6.8%) JHU:7(6.0%) SLMC:4(2.0%) UCPF:1(0.5%) EPDP:1(0.2%)
more..

General Election: Final Results

District UPFA |UNP |ITAK |JHU |SLMC |UCPF |EPDP |Tot
Colombo 8 9 - 3 - - - 20
Gampaha 9 6 - 2 - - - 17
Kalutara 6 3 - 1 - - - 10
Kandy 5 6 - 1 - - - 12
Matale 3 2 - - - - - 5
Nuwara Eliya 2 4 - - - 1 - 7
Galle 6 4 - - - - - 10
Matara 5 3 - - - - - 8
Hambantota 5 2 - - - - - 7
Jaffna - - 8 - - - 1 9
Vanni - 1 5 - - - - 6
Batticoloa - - 4 - 1 - - 5
Digamadulla 3 1 1 - 2 - - 7
Trincomalee 1 - 2 - 1 - - 4
Kurunegala 9 7 - - - - - 16
Puttalam 5 3 - - - - - 8
Anura'pura 5 3 - - - - - 8
Polonnaruwa 3 2 - - - - - 5
Badulla 3 5 - - - - - 8
Monaragala 3 2 - - - - - 5
Ratnapura 6 4 - - - - - 10
Kegalle 5 4 - - - - - 9
National List 13 11 2 21--29
Total1058222951225
more..

Coalition still needed after Sri Lanka election

Apr 4 (TCM) The political alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga won the largest number of seats in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections, officials said today, apparently forcing aside her longtime rival, the former prime minister. more..

Forming coalition government may prove hard for President

Apr 4 (VOA) It was an election that was supposed to settle one of the most bitter political feuds in Sri Lanka's modern history, the rivalry between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Kumaratunga victory bad for business

Apr 5 (DJ) Foreign investment into Sri Lanka likely will slow on concerns over the reform agenda and handling of a fragile peace process by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, whose alliance emerged victorious in the country's snap general election. more..

Sri Lanka’s new PM, Cabinet to be appointed Monday

Apr 5 (TN) New Prime Minister of the thirteenth parliament is to be sworn in on Monday. The new cabinet of ministers is also expected to take oaths on the same day. President Kumaratunge is expected to invite the leader of the political party that has got highest number of seats in the Friday poll, the UPFA, to form the government, more..

Fears for peace process as president wins in hung parliament

Apr 5 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party led election results but failed to secure a stable government needed to revive peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels. Results of Friday's vote gave Kumaratunga's leftist Freedom Alliance 105 seats, or eight seats short of the magic number of 113 needed to win an absolute majority in the 225-member legislature. more..

New government to promote ties with India

Apr 5 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's alliance said Sunday it would step up all-round cooperation with neighbouring India after forming a new government. "India has been Sri Lanka's closest neighbour and friend, and we intend to keep it that way," presidential spokesman Harim Peiris told more..

Convincing victory for Chandrika's party in elections

Apr 5 (HT) The UPFA, led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has emerged as the single largest party in the elections to the Sri Lankan parliament held on April 2. It has defeated the ruling UNF led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by 23 seats. more..

Sinking Peace in Sri Lanka

Apr 5 (CSM) One positive outcome of Sept. 11 was that it shed a harsh light on terrorist tactics in several civil wars. One was in Sri Lanka, the island nation off India where a cease-fire was declared after 9/11 by the Tamil Tigers guerrilla group. more..

President's party says it wants talks again with Tigers

Apr 5 (AP) Sri Lanka's president, whose political alliance won the most seats in parliamentary elections, plans to make a resumption of peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels her "top priority," her chief aide said Sunday. more..

Sri Lanka to hold first SASF Water Polo meet

Apr 5 (UNI) South Asia Swimming Federation (SASF) have decided to have a separate competition for Water Polo among its member countries later this year, according to SASF secretary General Kamran Butt here today. more..

Kadirgamar likely to be new Lanka PM

Apr 5 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s centre-left alliance is to form a new government in Sri Lanka despite a hung parliament, amid indications that the new prime minister would be the Tamil-speaking Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Election results, major political victory for freedom struggle- LTTE

Apr 5 (TN) The Tamil people have delivered a clear message on the "concept of the Tamil Homeland, Tamil Nationalism and the right for Tamil self rule should be accepted as the basic aspirations of the Tamil people and that the Tamil national problem should be politically resolved on that basis, more..

Friday's election was marred by irregularities in the East

Apr 5 (IL) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has accused their former rebels A.L.M. Athaullah and Anver Ismail, contesting under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to have made numerous attempts to rig FRiday's poll in the Ampara (Digamadulla) District on a mass scale. more..

Unidentified gunmen shoot civilian

Apr 5 (SLA) A civilian has received gun shot injuries when an unidentified group shot him with a pistol while he was in the general area of MAMANGAMA, in BATTICALOA, on 04 April 2004 around 9.30 p.m. more..

Thennamaravadi voters return back to Vanni

Apr 5 (TN) About five hundred displaced Tamil voters of Thennamaravadi village, seventy-three km off north of Trincomalee town Sunday returned to their temporary residence Ponnagar in the Mullaitivu district in the LTTE held Vanni region, after voting in the Friday poll, sources said. more..

Sri Lanka board receive news of Muralitharan's tests

Apr 5 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's cricket board already know the results of Muttiah Muralitharan's suspect bowling action assessment but are yet to publicly release the details. University of Western Australia biomechanist Bruce Elliott, who supervised last week's tests, said on Monday he had spoken to the Sri Lanka board to pass on key data information. more..

Doosra clear claims 'rubbish'

Apr 5 (HS) UNIVERSITY of Western Australia bio-mechanic Daryl Foster has denied testing of Muthiah Muralidaran's action had already cleared the Sri Lankan off-spinner of throwing. As Muralidaran flew home to Sri Lanka yesterday after Thursday's tests, speculation mounted that his controversial doosra was deemed legal by UWA experts. more..

Gamble pays off; Chandrika seeks allies to form govt

Apr 5 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s centre-left alliance is to form a new government in Sri Lanka despite a hung parliament, amid indications yesterday night the new prime minister would be the Tamil-speaking Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Rebels rise in Sri Lankan poll

Apr 5 (Guardian) The president of Sri Lanka tightened her grip on power yesterday in parliamentary elections which also saw a rebel-backed Tamil political party emerge as a third force. more..

JVP has 39 seats in New Parliament

Apr 5 (LT) Election of 35 candidates out of 39 who contested from the JVP at the General Election is considered as exceptional. Also the candidates who contested from the JVP have beaten the other candidates who contested from the same list in most places. more..

Sri Lanka to get new prime minister

Apr 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka is most likely to get a new prime minister Monday, with the frontrunners for the job being veteran politician Mahinda Rajapakse and former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Complications galore in Sri Lanka's peace prospects

Apr 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka's new government will have to tread a careful path as it tries to resume a stalled Norwegian-mediated peace process with Tamil Tiger guerrillas who are themselves facing one of their worst crises. more..

Outgoing Sri Lankan premier warns of instability

Apr 5 (IANS) Outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Monday warned of political instability as Sri Lanka braced for a minority government and there is a question mark on the future of the Norwegian-mediated peace process. more..

Buddhist monks brace for political role - but of a different kind

Apr 5 (IANS) When Sri Lanka's new parliament convenes, it will have some unusual members: Buddhist monks in their familiar maroon robes and with tonsured heads bracing to play the role of politicians this country has not seen. more..

Bid to forge Sri Lankan coalition

Apr 5 (CNN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga is holding talks with hard-line allies and smaller parties in a bid to pull together a coalition after failing to win a majority to form a government in Friday's election. more..

Interview with Army chief Lt Gen Lionel Balagalle

Apr 5 (Rediff) For a military commander, Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle is atypically soft-spoken and suave. But Sri Lanka's chief of defence staff is also known for his no-nonsense attitude when dealing with both his troops and his former enemy, the LTTE. more..

Sri Lanka peace tough task for new gov't

Apr 5 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's minority government will have a tough time resuming talks with the Tamil Tigers after voters elected an ethnically divided parliament and rejected the outgoing prime minister's approach to peace, analysts said on Monday. more..

Tigers say Sri Lanka vote backs freedom struggle

Apr 5 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels, battling for a separate state for the past two decades, say the island's general election validates their struggle for a homeland, but vow to fight on if their demands are not met. more..

Why did president win parliamentary elections?

Apr 5 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's opposition freedom alliance won the Friday parliamentary election with 105 seats but needs the support of other small parties to form a stable government as it fell short of an absolute majority in the parliament. more..

Garment workers fight for union

Apr 5 (NS) Please find below a request for action in a case of union repression at a Sri Lankan factory producing gloves for North American and European brands. Union members have been facing ongoing harassment, demotion and dismissal in response to their organizing efforts. more..

Chandrika's govt cannot survive, predicts Ranil

Apr 5 (HT) Defeated Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has warned that Chandrika Kumaratunga's minority government will not be able to conduct even normal parliamentary business and that after a period of instability, fresh elections may have to be held. more..

Ranil's Govt failed to deliver dividends of peace to common man

Apr 5 (HT) The ruling UNF lost the April 2 parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka primarily because its chief and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe failed to deliver the dividends of peace to the common man, according to an expert in political sociology. more..

Election produces a hung parliament and further political instability

Apr 5 (wsws) The election held last Friday has resulted in an indecisive outcome that can only lead to further political volatility. While President Kumaratunga’s UPFA boosted its position in the 225-seat parliament at the expense of the UNF, no party or alliance has an absolute majority. more..

New religious party emerges dark horse in Sri Lanka's polls

Apr 5 (OW) The surprising gains made by the newly formed Buddhist monks' party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in polls indicate a rise in rightwing nationalism among the country's Sinhala majority and growing disillusionment with mainstream political parties, analysts say. more..

Candidate's body set on fire

Apr 5 (N24) Members of Sri Lanka's mainstream rebel movement exhumed and set fire to the body of a slain parliamentary candidate who had opposed the group, police and breakaway rebels said on Monday. more..

Tigers warn of return to war as Sri Lanka struggles to form coalition

Apr 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels warned they would return to war unless they were granted self-rule as President Chandrika Kumaratunga struggled to cobble together a coalition in a hung parliament. more..

Sri Lanka to delay naming new PM

Apr 5 (Xinhua) The naming of the new prime minister and setting up of the new government will be delayed until Tuesday, high ranking government officials said Monday. The new prime minister was to have been named Monday, signalingthe induction of the UPFA government more..

Lanka elections unleash new political forces

Apr 5 (HT) The Sri parliamentary elections held on April 2, just two years after the last one, have not only upset the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, but unleashed new forces, generating hope of a better life among some, and dismay and deep apprehension among others. more..

Wrong answer in Sri Lanka

Apr 5 (MN) "I have a strong belief that our nation will have peace but I am under no illusion that it will be easy," said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe two years ago, as his government signed a ceasefire in the civil war that had ravaged the island nation for eighteen years. Now he is out of power, and the ceasefire itself is at risk. more..

Peace talks, Economics priority of new gov't

Apr 5 (IPS) Sri Lanka's new government is set to restart peace talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels, in a shaky process that has been complicated by a split in rebel ranks but now also has to pay equal attention to rural poverty and economic issues. more..

Chandrika faces dissent, PM swearing-in put off

Apr 5 (PTI) Faced with dissent in her own party, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today postponed the swearing-in of the Prime Minister after fierce opposition to her choice for former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar for the top job. more..

Peace process under shadow

Apr 5 (BBC) The future of Sri Lanka's fragile peace process now hinges on how President Kumaratunga's winning political alliance and the Tamil rebels heal rifts within their own ranks. Analysts believe that the island's two-year-old ceasefire will continue to hold in a war-weary nation. more..

Buddhist monks join political scrum

Apr 5 (BBC) "Don't call us MPs. Call us advisers to the people," the ochre-robed Buddhist monks tell a gathering of devotees at a temple on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. "You have given us strength by electing us." more..

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