COLOMBO, April 5: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday that President Chandrika Kumaratunga's United People's Freedom Alliance would not get the support of the Muslim Congress (SLMC) in the formation of a coalition government.

However, the UPFA won the support of former Muslim affairs minister Rauf Hakeem, raising its hopes of getting the backing of the SLMC. Mr Wickremesinghe, at his first press briefing after his United National Front's defeat to the UPFA, said he could still form a government with the support of the 22 seats obtained by the Tamil National Alliance and the Muslim Congress, adding however that he did not want to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.