Sri Lanka It's Happening

June 16, 2005

So the JVP has quit the government possibly signaling the dawn of a new era; a time when the two major polictical parties will work together for the first time in history.

We have come perilously close to that state twice before. The first time was when The current president won the primiership stakes while the president was DB Wijethunga, a UNP member. The UPFA that ruled the country until midnight last night was then known as the PA. Now that the JVP has left they are back to being the PA.

Eleven years ago, the PA and the UNP were both eying the presidential election around the corner so the two parties did not work together. The second time that the two parties came to working close together was when the UNP won the general election and Ranil Wickramasinghe became the Prime Minister. The president wasn't too keen to work with him and the result was the election that we had last year which so that ouster of the UNP.

Now with the JVP gone the government is struggling with out a majority. Again. The only way that a majority can now be achieved is with the help of the UNP. Bribery, corruption and thuggery in parliament will not be enough.

The UNP for it's part has said that they are willing to offer support and to push the so called Joint Mechanism with the tigers through parliament. When the JVP quit a few hours ago, it was probably the first time that they translated their words into deeds since being elected to power. Now it remains to be seen if the UNP will stick to their word.

Posted by raditha at June 16, 2005 9:35 AM