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| Wednesday, 2 June 2004 |
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Politics | |
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| SLFP-JVP bonds further strengthened by Uditha Kumarasinghe The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during their discussions on Monday decided to convene the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) Steering Committee once a week to sort out problems that may crop up within the Alliance parties and work out future strategies. The Steering Committee was set up during the formation of the Freedom Alliance to ensure that the MoU signed between the SLFP and the JVP would be implemented in a proper manner. The talks were held under the patronage of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at President's House. The talks which commenced around 7.00 pm went on till midnight in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, Alliance sources told the Daily News yesterday. Sources said the discussions served to further strengthen the bonds between the SLFP and JVP. SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena, Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Nimal Siripala de Silva represented the SLFP while JVP General Secretary Tylvin Silva and Parliamentarians Wimal Weerawansa and Nandana Gunathilake represented the JVP. General Secretary Sirisena told the Daily News that the discussion mainly focused on the progress of the peace process. Both parties agreed to act according to the MoU signed by the SLFP and the JVP with the intention of implementing the pledges contained in the Freedom Alliance Manifesto to rebuild the country, JVP sources said. The discussions also centred on certain instances where the joint MoU has been violated. Lengthy discussions were conducted between the President and the representatives of two parties to safeguard the MoU. The JVP sources confirmed that the talks also focused on ways and means of increasing the present 106 parliamentary seats of the Freedom Alliance Government to 113 seats. Attention was also focused on the JVP's request to limit the number of Cabinet portfolios to 35. The discussions with the President accorded priority on the proposed Government - LTTE talks aimed at achieving a durable peace through a sustainable dialogue in an honest and transparent manner. Peace Secretariat Chief Jayantha Dhanapala and Senior Advisor to President Kusumsiri Balapatabendi participated in the part of the discussion which discussed on the peace talks, the sources said. The JVP General Secretary in a letter addressed to the President on Sunday (May 30) raised certain matters regarding the MoU signed between the SLFP and the JVP. However, the President in a reply urged the JVP to elaborate further on the matters raised in the letter addressed to her. The President also advised the JVP to make a detailed representation on their problems at the meeting held on Monday. |
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