JVP SAYS THE NEGOTIATIONS ON AN ELECTORAL ALLIANCE WITH THE SLFP BROKE DOWN DURING THE FINAL SESSIONS OF TALKS, SEPTEMBER 5
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
September 07.03.20 AM:Sri Lanka’s second largest opposition party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) said the months long discussions they had with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) to build up a broad electoral alliance broke down, Friday, at the final discussions the two parties had at the Presidential Palace, the official residence of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The leader of the JVP Parliamentary group, Wimal Weerawansa, who made a statement over the Sinhala service of the BBC said the talks they held at the final sessions of the discussions, September 5, broke down after both parties could not come to conclusions regarding few most pressing national issues of the country.
Obviously with ominous signs for the discussions, the SLFP negotiators for the talks arrived at the meeting at 7.30 p.m. exactly two hours late while the JVP team waited for their arrival.
Political observers said the opposing views held by both parties on the question about the secessionist war waged by the LTTE and the problems about the country’s economic woes were led to the final break down of the alliance talks.
Wimal Weerawansa said both parties agreed not to attack each other over the break down of the talks and he did not intend to reveal on what issues they disagreed.
Since there was a great demand for an electoral agreement between the two parties in the country to keep the path open for any future agreements for the national needs of the country, Wimal Weerawansa said he was avoiding any acrimonious statements.
Wimal Weerawansa said the final sessions of the negotiations made it clear that taking part in the negotiations any further was wastage of time and the JVP took the decisions to end the talks very “painfully”.
The SLFP did not issue an immediate statement.
The JVP said it did not consider the break down of the talks between the two parties would lead to end the acting of the two parties together on problems of national crisis.
Close observers said the diplomatic pressures of the West, led by the United States of America on President Chandrika Kumaratunga was also a major cause for the break down of the talks. Throughout the discussions, the Sunday Times and the Daily Mirror newspapers, owned by the uncle of the Prime Minister, Ranjith Wijewardena were used to publish sometimes erroneous news reports to sabotage the on going talks .
At the last general elections the combined support of the electorate to both parties were greater than that of the ruling United National Front. Even with the ballots received by both parties at the last elections , which have definitely increased by the unpopularity of the government now, an electoral alliance would have received a definite majority to form a government, observers have reported.
The Daily Mirror of the Prime Ministers uncle’s newspaper group published the wish of the group in the form of a news report: “Observers said the new move might lead to a strengthening of ties between the government and the President even as the two parties were in an uneasy cohabitation for several months. The PA and the UNF currently advocates devolution of power to resolve the decades-long ethnic conflict.”
An alliance between the SLFP and the ruling UNP is the wish of the United States government, for a UNF type solution for the war of the LTTE.
