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The Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter, 
Ven. Rambukwelle Siri Vipassi, tying a pirith thread on the 
hand of new Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake 
when he visited the prelate yesterday to get his blessings.

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PA split over constitution vote

After the government's bid to push the constitutional reforms bill through parliament was aborted, the government is reported to be split over whether to go ahead with the debate before the scheduled dissolution on August 24. 

Two ministers were reported to be keen on seeing the proposed constitution taken up for debate and put for voting before dissolution of parliament, but others were of the opinion that the vote should be delayed.

President Kumaratunga on Friday night declared that the government was prepared to continue with the debate on the constitution bill before August 24 only if the UNP agreed to support the proposals.

Despite government deciding to postpone the voting after it became apparent that the two-thirds majority could not be obtained, Ministers S. B. Dissanayake and Minister Mangala Samaraweera are reported to have argued for the debate to be taken up again soon. But other ministers opposed it.

A cabinet sub committee appointed on Friday is expected to take up for discussion further amendments to the proposed constitution, making it unlikely that the government can take up the vote before August 24.

Meanwhile, Minister Mahinda Rajapakse told The Sunday Times he did not agree with the claims that the constitution bill could be approved without a two-thirds majority in parliament.

"To my knowledge the two thirds majority is a must. There is no way out of it," he said apparently referring to claims, especially by Minister S. B. Dissanayake that legal experts had advised the government the constitution could be approved without a two-thirds majority in parliament if a clear mandate was obtained directly from the people.

Minister Sarath Amun-ugama who was in the forefront of the campaign to push the new constitution through told The Sunday Times the Government was yet to decide whether it will take up the bill before parliament was dissolved on August 24.

He said more than 60 amendments had to be studied and there was also the problem of nearly all PA MPs wanting to speak on the bill. 

Minister Amunugama accused the UNP of virtually 'abducting' some MPs to prevent them from voting for the new constitution, but Opposition UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said the MPs were sent abroad as a precaution as their lives were under threat.

SLMC Secretary Rauf Hakeem told The Sunday Times it was unlikely that the Government would take up the bill in Parliament before August 24 since the UNP had asked for further discussion.

He said he believed the UNP would drag its feet until parliament was dissolved and without the UNP support a two-thirds majority was not possible.

UNP spokesman Karuna-sena Kodituwakku told The Sunday Times the party was ready to restart talks but the final draft should have a national consensus.


Anura says Sirima was removed from post

UNP frontliner Anura Bandaranaike has accused President Chandrika Kumaratunga of suddenly removing Sirimavo Bandaranaike from the premiership.

"I am perplexed about the move. I don't see any logic in it," Mr. Bandaranaike told The Sunday Times.

"My mother was planning to resign at the end of the election campaign. I met her twice after her resignation and I strongly feel that she was forced to leave. She is so weak that she has little say in anything," he said.

He alleged that the letter of resignation was prepared and sent to Ms. Bandaranaike for her signature. 


Monk accepts CBK's challenge

By Nilika de Silva
A prominent Buddhist monk has pledged to enlist 20,000 men for the forces in response to a challenge thrown by President Kumaratunga over state television on Friday.

"As a citizen who loves his country, I accept this challenge. I am prepared to do so on behalf of the Buddhist clergy of this country," Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thera, the Chief Incumbent of the Gangaramaya Temple said last night.

He asked for ten minutes on state television and space on the front page of state-run newspapers each day for a week to explain the issues to the people. 

President Kumaratunga in her television interview called upon the Sinhala extremist groups and chauvinistic elements to send at least 20,000 more youth to the battlefront, if they want to continue with the war. 

"They should also be prepared to accept half their salaries and stop all development work and forget about solving the youth unemployment problem, if they want only a military solution to this issue and not a peaceful political one," the President said.

The Ven. Gnanissara Thera said that the President and the cabinet needed to set an example by donating half their salaries, their vehicles and other facilities for the work of the security forces. If that happened, the Maha Sangha would also come forward, he said.

He claimed that if there was systematic planning, he was confident they could find not 20,000 but even 100,000 youth for the war. 

If the government gave a full commitment to the war, the monks were prepared to go to the youth and ask them to make the sacrifice, he said.


New premier to mediate with Maha Sangha

By Shane Seneviratne
New Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said yesterday he was ready to mediate between the Maha Sangha and the Government to settle the dispute over the new constitution.

Mr. Wickramanayake who met the Mahanayake Theras of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters in Kandy said he wanted to clarify the clauses which the prelates were opposing.

Speaking to the Asgiriya prelate, he said he would be visiting the Mahanayakes again to discuss the matters further.

The new premier said he would take it as his responsibility to resolve the dispute between the Maha Sangha and the government and that he believed the problems could be resolved.

He said he also believed that in dealing with brutal terrorists, Buddhist principles like loving kindness and compassion could not be applied. 

Last week, the Mahanayakes of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters refused to meet President Kumaratunga and Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte to discuss the new constitution. 


UNPers deny Batalanda Peiris' salvo

The state media yesterday named three UNPers who were allegedly involved in illegally providing former Police Superintendent Douglas Peiris a forged passport to travel to Dubai — and the three responded within hours calling for a broadcast of their denial by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation or threatening legal action.

The SLBC in its evening news bulletin yesterday named UNP's Colombo Central organiser Mohamed Mahroof, Colombo East organiser Milinda Moragoda and Bodhisiri Ranasinghe as persons allegedly linked to Mr. Peiris.

The SLBC report said Mr. Peiris on July 22, 1996, had gone to India by boat and thereafter to Switzerland after he had discussed matters with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. In 1997 he had gone to India and then proceeded to Bangkok, but returned to India thereafter. The forged passport had been sent to him while he was in India to seek employment in Dubai, the radio said quoting an affidavit by Mr. Peiris. 

It also alleged that Mr. Wickremsinghe had called Mr. Peiris's son to his office and said a job had been arranged for the controversial policman in Dubai.

All three UNPers in their letter to SLBC served through their lawyer Dhammika D. Yapa last night denied knowing Mr. Peiris and stating that the contents in the purported Affidavit were a figment of the policeman's imagination and that the SLBC had indulged in a mud-slinging campaign.

Political analysts were earlier awaiting the fall-out of the arrest and subsequent detention by the CID of Mr. Peiris, one of the suspects in the alleged Batalanda torture cases.

Mr. Peiris was named as one of those involved in running a 'torture chamber' for JVP suspects at Batalanda during the 1987-90 period. 

Since 1994, the PA government has on many occasions labelled Mr. Wickremesinghe as the political authority behind this alleged 'torture chamber'.

Mr. Peiris arrived in Sri Lanka a fortnight ago and was arrested at the Katunayake airport and has been in CID custody since.

His arrival on the eve of crucial parliamentary elections was seen by political observers as a move to implicate the UNP leader and bring political mileage to the government.

Yesterday's news break on state media, UNP sources said was the first offensive against Mr. Wickremesinghe and the UNP ahead of the forthcoming election campaign.

There has been no official word from the government so far on Mr. Peiris's arrest.

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