News
|
||||
Right
of reply 1. President Kumaratunga has held no discussions with the UNP inviting it to form a coalition government, giving it 50% of the cabinet portfolios or on any other basis as stated in your news item. Neither has Dr. Sarath Amunugama engaged in such discussions. 2. The said news report also states that President Kumaratunga ‘offered to allow the UNP to form a government when she met the Hon. Milinda Moragoda earlier this week. This too is totally false. President Kumaratunga invited the Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe for a meeting after one of her ministers conveyed to her, that the Chairman of the UNP, Mr. Malik Samarawickrama, had suggested that it would be useful if a meeting was held between President Kumaratunga and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe in order to discuss the present political situation. At this meeting, held on the 13th of June with Mr. Wickremesinghe, several issues relating to the current political situation were discussed. However, the two matters referred to in your news report today were not taken up for discussion. President Kumaratunga wishes to reiterate that her stance which she has held for the 10 years, that the two mainstream parties, namely the PA and the UNP should attempt to arrive at a durable working arrangement in the national interest, remains unchanged. We
shall thank you to please publish this correction. The Sunday Times stands by its story. The fact that these different messages from the PA have been discussed at length by the UNP is reiterated. More so, while we appreciate the embarrassment caused to the President's Office, we haven't received any contradictions from Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Mr. Malik Samarawickrama or Mr. Milinda Moragoda -- those named in this story.The news item also never said that the President and the Leader of the Opposition discussed these matters (power-sharing between the PA and the UNP following the collapse of the UPFA coalition ) at their June 13 meeting. We can now say that at that meeting the President was quite confident that the JVP will not walk out of the UPFA Government (which they did two days later). Mr. Wickremesinghe had then told the President that as the JVP took the view that they would ensure the UNP did not form the Government, even if the JVP did walk out of the UPFA, there was no question of the UNP wanting to topple the PA Government without a working majority in Parliament. Events this week, especially at the Western Province Provincial Council do seem to indicate that the PA and the UNP are working in tandem to check-mate their common enemy -- the JVP, doesn't it? Read more of it in this week's political commentary on page 10. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
