Sri Lanka in turmoil as parliament dissolved

Sri Lanka in turmoil as parliament dissolved

Agencies, Colombo

Sri Lanka's fragile peace bid and reconstruction from war were
plunged into uncertainty on Sunday after the president sacked
parliament and called elections nearly four years ahead of
schedule.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved the legislature and
set April 2 polls on Saturday after months of wrangling with the
prime minister over how to end ethnic strife that has claimed
over 60,000 lives since 1972.

Her calling of the third parliamentary election since 2000
came despite international pressure on her to compromise with
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The two are from different parties and were elected separately
in bloody campaigns that have become a trademark of Sri Lankan
elections.

Wickremesinghe's party on Sunday asked elections chief
Dayananda Dissanayake to invite foreign poll observers in a bid
to minimize violence.

Meanwhile, analysts and politicians said on Sunday snap
elections called for April 2 in Sri Lanka are a threat to the
peace process between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

A two-year old cease-fire is expected to hold, but the future
of peace talks is now unclear.

"The elections will not provide an answer, no matter who
wins," Jehan Perera, media director the non-partisan National
Peace Council, told Reuters.

He added that if Kumaratunga's People's Alliance won the poll,
peace talks would be difficult because of her pact with the
ultra-nationalist People's Liberation Front (JVP), which is
opposed to any concessions to the rebels.

"The alliance has not agreed on its own policy toward the
peace process," Perera said.

No opinion polls have been published but analysts and
newspapers said the vote would be close and the president's
alliance has momentum going into the race.

If Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) wins, he would
still have to deal with an all-powerful president who suspects he
is willing to compromise security in order to make peace with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The left-leaning Kumaratunga and the pro-business
Wickremesinghe are bitter rivals. The president, who has survived
a rebel suicide attack, takes a harder line on the Tigers and
opposes Wickremesinghe's privatization policies.

Diplomats said the new instability could hold up US$4.5
billion pledged to rebuild the island, as donors linked the money
to progress in the peace process.

Tamil legislators said the crisis may not be resolved even
after the election.

"We can expect a lot of turmoil," Tamil MP Dharmalingam
Sidhathan said.

"Even if the present UNP (United National Party government of
Wickremesinghe) comes back to power, they will still have the
same president and we will be back to square one."

He said if Kumaratunga's party won the legislature, it would
have to contend with serious differences with its new leftist
ally, the JVP, or People's Liberation Front, which opposes
autonomy for the Tamil minority.