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Sri Lanka's Parliament dissolved |
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August 19, 2000
COLOMBO (AP) - Sri Lanka's government dissolved the Parliament on Friday, six days before its term ended, and scheduled elections for October saying it wants to take quick steps to end the country's Tamil separatist war. "The fact that we are going for elections eight weeks from now by not wasting any time shows that we are eager to take steps to end the war," said Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera. The island nation's 17-year-old Tamil rebel campaign for a homeland has killed more than 62,000 people. But the opposition criticized the move. "The government has given the minimum time period for campaign, which places them at a terrific advantage over others," said Thilak Karunaratne, general secretary of the nationalist Sinhala Urumaya, or Sinhalese Heritage Party. Government Spokesman Ariya Rubasinghe gave no reason for the early dissolution of the 225-member assembly. But officials at the presidential secretariat said Kumaratunga was told by astrologers that the day and time were auspicious. The president signed the order at 11:32 a.m. (0532 GMT), and set midnight Friday (1600 GMT) as the actual time of dissolution of the Parliament on the astrologers' advise, said the officials on condition of anonymity. Sri Lankans, the majority of whom are Sinhalese Buddhists, are avid followers of astrology. They seek advice from religious gurus about the day and time deemed auspicious for important events, hoping they will not be influenced by any evil influence. New elections will be held Oct. 10 and the new Parliament will convene on Oct. 18. Nominations will be from Aug. 28 through Sept. 4, Rubasinghe said. The Parliament has a six-year term. Kumaratunga's five-party alliance is expected to face a tough challenge from the opposition United National Party. A Marxist group and the Sinhalese Heritage party have also shown some influence on the voters. The main issues are: ending the Tamil separatist war, inflation and the economic hardship that the country's 18.6 million people are facing due to the nation's massive war spending. The president is all powerful in Sri Lanka, but Kumaratunga sought the Parliament's approval this month to get a new constitution approved. She failed to win the required two-thirds vote after the opposition refused to support the move. The draft constitution, aimed at ending the war, proposed granting autonomy to regions, especially those where most members of the Tamil minority live. Kumaratunga hopes to win over moderates and sideline the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who demand only independence for the Tamil-majority north and east. On Aug. 8, the government indefinitely postponed a vote on the draft after coming under pressure from Sinhalese nationalists and Buddhist monks. The new constitution was the first definite step taken by a government to answer minority grievances by making changes in the laws. The rebels say that the 3.2 million Tamils, who are mostly Hindu, are discriminated against by the Sinhalese. Sri Lanka's constitution, adopted after it gained freedom from British colonial rulers in 1947, grants privileges and powers to the ethnic majority which constitutes 76 percent of the population. |