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President seeks Anura-Mahinda balance
By Harinda Vidanage
Amidst intense speculation of a snap parliamentary election, President Chandrika Kumaratunga has named Anura Bandaranaike and Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse as co-campaign managers. The Sunday Times learns that the President's move was an apparent bid to defuse a power struggle between Mr. Bandaranaike and Mr. Rajapakse, political analysts said.

According to reports, President Kumaratunga has indicated she would announce her prime ministerial choice only after a general election. Parallel to this, President Kumaratunga has also named some of the officials of the new Eksath Jathika Nidahas Sandanaya.

The JVP's Nandana Gunathileke has been appointed President of the alliance with the JVP's Bimal Ratnayake as Vice President, the SLFP's Susil Premajayantha as Secretary and the JVP's Vijitha Herath as Deputy Secretary.

The Sunday Times learns that President Kumaratunga intentionally held back the appointment of a party leader and a national organizer, apparently fearing it would worsen the dispute between Mr. Rajapakse and Mr. Bandaranaike. Sources close to President Kumaratunga said she was looking at ways to amend the alliance's constitution to create an additional position to accommodate both Mr. Bandaranaike and Mr. Rajapakse.

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