Sri Lanka president courts right-wing Buddhists, offers them environment portfolio

Associated Press, Thu February 1, 2007 06:38 EST COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - (AP) President Mahinda Rajapakse cemented his majority in Sri Lanka - 's Parliament by courting a party of hardline Buddhist monks and offering its lawmakers a ministerial office, officials said Thursday. A total of 19 members of the main opposition United National Party crossed over to the government side, while six members from the Sri Lanka - Muslim Congress also joined the administration.

The UNP has said Rajapakse's move to lure its members to defect has effectively ended a previous agreement between them to cooperate in solving the island's two-decade-long separatist war.

A negotiated power-sharing settlement with ethnic minority Tamils could be further hampered by the inclusion of the monks' party in government, as they have stridently opposed any talks with Tamil separatist rebels.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels have been fighting since 1983 to create a separate homeland for the country's 3.1 million minority Tamils, saying that after decades of discrimination, Tamils can prosper only away from the domination of the majority Sinhalese.

About 68,000 people have been killed in the fighting, including some 3,600 fighters and civilians who died last year when the conflict escalated despite a 2002 Norway-brokered cease-fire.

Sri Lanka leftist party emerging as main opposition

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Sri Lanka's main leftist party, the JVP or the People's Liberation Front, claimed Thursday that it was fast emerging as the country's main opposition.

Somawansa Amerasinghe, the JVP leader, told reporters that "we are on the way of becoming the main opposition party. That is a wish of the people and it should happen."

The JVP said that the party will have to act as the country's main opposition with responsibility in view of mass defections by the current main opposition party, the United National Party (UNP), to the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Some 18 members joined the Rajapakse administration on Sunday with 10 of them becoming cabinet ministers.

Political sources said that more UNP members are to join the government soon.

The JVP has a strength of 38 seats in the 225-member parliament and the UNP is left with just 44 after Sunday's defections.

The JVP leader dismissed government accusations that it was the refusal by the JVP to join the government that had led to the UNP members being accommodated in the government.

Amerasinghe stressed that his party was having talks with President Rajapakse based on a program in order to join the government.

"However the president started talks with the UNP even before our talks came into any conclusion," the JVP leader said.

The JVP was instrumental in ensuring Rajapakse's victory in the presidential election of November 2005 but stayed out of the government on policy differences -- mainly on the issue of peace negotiations with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Although opposing the government in parliament, Amerasinghe said that his party would support the government on its campaign against terrorism in the north and east.