COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's main opposition, United National Party, in an unexpected move said on Tuesday that it was ready to support the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration if it agreed on the party's 15-point plan launched last week to rebuild Sri Lanka.
The plan which extensively deals with all sectors is described by the UNP members to be the 'panacea for all ills the country holds'. UNP front-liner Dr Rajitha Senaratne addressing a news conference on Tuesday said the UNP was ready to work with the government.
The UNP's sudden change of heart comes in the wake of serious speculation that the uneasy existence between the Alliance government of President Kumaratunge and the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna will come to a halt with the Marxists threatening to quit if things do not go their way.
"If the JVP quit we will join the government - not to get cabinet portfolios but to work with a government based on the UNP's master plan for rebuilding Sri Lanka", Dr Senarathne told journalists.
The question, of course, is if the government of President Kumaratunge, especially her party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which has disagreements with its own cohabitating partner, the JVP, will be able to work together with the United National Party, which veers from insult to welcome ever so often.
A similar offer was in the offing last year by the UNP when serious disagreements arose between the Alliance government and the JVP on the resumption of peace talks with the Tamil Tigers based on the LTTE's demanded north-eastern interim administration concept.
However, the UNP admits that the JVP which holds 39 seats in the parliament will keep their threats as threats and refrain from taking the final plunge of walking away from the government.
The JVP's wrangling with the government which began soon after it consented to share its political bet with the Alliance government, concerning a permanent solution with the LTTE, now has branched onto spheres such as the government's privatization policy and overall financial management.
Its annoyance with the government notably rises after every visit by the peace facilitating Norwegians and following the visit of Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson and special peace envoy Erik Solheim a fortnight ago for a post-tsunami peace analysis, the Marxists are sore.
UNP's Dr Senaratne, meanwhile, has said he believed the JVP was 'playing politics' and would not leave the government because JVP members wanted 'to hang onto power'.
Lambasting both the JVP and the government for talking a lot but doing nothing especially in the tsunami aftermath, Dr Senaratne blamed the government for not reaching a workable agreement with the LTTE to streamline rebuilding of the war-tsunami torn north and east.
UNP economics spokesman Bandula Gunawardene said the party was ready to support the government but insisted that ruling party leaders must stop their mud slinging.
Political analysts, meanwhile, point out that the United National Party is divided in opinion with regard to having a peaceful relationship with the government, stating there was a divide in thinking patterns.
Prof. G. L. Peiris, a former minister of President Kumaratunge's government, as all former Chandrika supporters who have crossed over to the opposition, have been the most vociferous critic of President Kumaratunge describing as 'abstract', her statements that she welcomed suggestions of the opposition for rebuilding the country.
The question being asked right now in Sri Lanka is how the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna who have trudged through two bloody insurgencies in 1971 and 1989 and who have arrived at the political gate to become the third force can battle with the UNP in winning the graces of the government.
"We have no political grudge with the UNP. We entertain criticism. There is no issue with the government staying on undemocratically", Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said in an interview with Dawn following the furore by the UNP regarding a comment by President Kumaratunge that elections will not be held for five years.
