ஒளிமயமான எதிர்காலம் விடுதலைப் புலிப் போராளிகளின் தலைமையின் கண்களில் தெரிகிறது!

Sri Lanka govt's majority slashed as party defects

Thu Aug 2, 2007 3:19PM BST COLOMBO, Aug 2 (Reuters)

The Sri Lankan government's parliamentary majority was cut to the bare minimum on Thursday after a Tamil party defected, leaving it dependent on hardline Buddhists and Marxists for survival.
The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) said its leader, Minister of Youth Empowerment Arumugan Thondaman, and four deputy ministers in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government had resigned after an unspecified disagreement.
The CWC's exit leaves the government with 113 seats in the 225-seat parliament, the minimum number required for a working majority, and comes as the island's fractured opposition seeks to build an alliance to topple it.
"We have pulled out because we had a misunderstanding with the government," said R. Yogarajan, vice president of a party that represents Tamil tea estate workers, who were first brought to Sri Lanka in the 19th century by then colonial ruler Britain.
"Our party felt insulted due to some reason ... which we are not disclosing," he added. "For the moment there is no chance of our patching up."
Rajapaksa is already dependent on the support of a hardline Buddhist monk party which wants him to destroy his Tamil Tiger rebel foes as the island plunges deeper into a new chapter of a two-decade civil war that has killed nearly 70,000 people since 1983.
Analysts say much will now depend on whether the JVP hardline Marxist party continues to back the government on crucial votes from outside the coalition as the withdrawal of their support could lead to early elections.
"It hinges on whether the JVP would want the government to fall at this time, and the indications are the JVP ... would not want (the) government to fall because it could mean going for elections," said Jehan Perera of the non-partisan advocacy group the National Peace Council.
"If they withdraw their support, it leaves the government vulnerable to further defections," he added.

'We pulled out because our party was insulted'

CWCFri, 2007-08-03 00:21 Coliombo, 02 August, (Asiantribune.com):

The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) has resigned from the government because the party was insulted. "There is no chance of patching up at the moment (as a result)" said CWC Vice President Mr.R.Yogarajan.
Today's newsreports said that the leader of the CWC Mr.Arumugan Thondaman, who was also the Minister of Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development and four other CWC members have resigned from the government 'due to the party being insulted by Basil Rajapakse. "A heated verbal fight between CWC's Muththu Sivalingam and Basil Rajapakse took place right in front of Leader Thondaman. Basil began to be derogatory of CWC" sources said.
However, the government said that CWC did not resign from the government. "The misunderstanding has now been sorted out" said Sri Lanka Presidential Office amidst conflicting reports on the desertion of its minority ally. It is in response to the government's statement that Yogarajan was responding with 'no chance of immediate patchup.'
Speculation was rife that the CWC would join the new "National Congress" recently floated by Mangala Samaraweera's SLFP (M) wing and the opposition UNP.
CWC was a constituent of the United Peoples Freedom alliance (UPFA) government.
Since early July, the CWC have been meeting with the SLFP (M) wing 'quietly.'
On July 5, CWC and Peoples Wing of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) met at Sawmiya Bawan, headquarters of the CWC "for discussions on matters related to the uncertainties in political alliances in the parliament."
The CWC delegation was led by its leader Mr.Arumugan Thondaman, Mr.Muthu Sivalingam, and Mr.R.Yogarajan. SLFP (PW) comprised its leader Mr.Mangala Samaraweera, Mr.Sripathi Sooriyarachchi and Mr.Tiran Alles.
Discussion between the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and SLFP (PW) also were scheduled, sources said. SLMC is also a constituent of the UPFA government with its leader Mr.Rauff Hakeem holding a cabinet portfolio.
Asian Tribune

Thondaman and five MPs resign from the government
(LeN-2007 Aug 02, 6.45 PM)

Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) leader and the Minister of Youth Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development Arumugam Thondaman and the four deputy ministers who represented his party decided to resign from the government, said the CWC media spokesman R. Yogarajan to 'LeN'.
He further said that the resignation papers of all of them were handed over to the Presidential Secretary Lalith Weerathunga this evening. Deputy Minister of Posts Sangaralingam Sellasamy, the Deputy Minister of Posts Muttu Sivanlingam, Deputy Minister of Education Murugan Satchithanandan and the Deputy Minister of National Integration Shanmugam Jegathgeeswaran are the four deputy ministers who resigned today.
Arumugam Thondaman left for Kotagala after submitting his resignation papers.
Reportedly, a warm exchange of words between Nuththu Sivalingam and Basil Rajapakse over a statement made by the Deputy Minister caused the resignation. Basil Rajapakse has threatened to Sivalingam and challenged him to resign. The incident has taken place before Thondaman.

No single party can form Govt. - Yapa

Despite platform talks and discussions, not a single political party will be in a position to reduce the Cabinet in the future and no single party will be in a position to form a government, Media Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa told the weekly Cabinet briefing at the Information Department yesterday.

The Island

CWC pulls out of Govt. Thondaman and four others to quit
By Kelum Bandara

The CWC yesterday decided to resign from the government and occupy opposition benches in Parliament from next week.
Accordingly party leader Arumugam Thondaman would resign from the ministerial portfolio of Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development.
Five CWC members held ministerial portfolios in the government.

Party leader Thondaman was a Cabinet Minister while S. Sachittanandan, A. Jegadeeswaran, S. Sellasamy and M. Muttusivalingam held non-cabinet ministerial portfolios. CWC’s V. Puthirasigamani did not hold any post in the government.
Party spokesman R. Yogarajan told the Daily Mirror they informed President Mahinda Rajapaksa of their decision to join the opposition in Parliament from next week.
“When the House meets next Tuesday, we will occupy opposition benches,” he said.
The CWC supported UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at the last Presidential election but accepted ministerial portfolios in the government after the Cabinet reshuffle in February.
Meanwhile, according to political sources a CWC delegation sans its leader met the UNP leadership on Wednesday to discuss the current political developments in the country.
The new political move took place yesterday in the backdrop of the UNP-SLFP (Mahajana) Wing - now called the National Congress - planning to team up with other political parties in the country to mount pressure on the government.
There had been a last ditch attempt by some top politicians last evening to prevent the CWC members from crossing over to the opposition. However, they had failed to patch things up.
Political sources said the CWC had taken this decision because they had been insulted by a presidential advisor who had even used racial slurs on them during a meeting yesterday.
Meanwhile SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem said that the CWC leader had been regularly updating him on the developments from the time the latter took the decision to quit the government.