Opposition in disarray

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

*Fonseka sticks with JVP

*UNP reverts to elephant

*Swan left in the lurch

The main Opposition alliance of political parties the UNP, JVP, SLMC and TNA who were together in the recent Presidential election split into more than two groups yesterday.

The UPFA remains the strongest political party now.

The main Opposition, the UNP has decided to go alone with the elephant symbol, Sirikotha sources said.

The JVP earlier said it would form an alliance with the UNP and the New Democratic Front. But by yesterday it had failed to convince the UNP leadership to enter into a no-contest pact or an agreement to contest under a common symbol as an alliance.

JVP’s former Gampaha District MP Vijitha Herath told foreign media yesterday that the alliance with the UNP was over.

The last minute arrangements however, made with discussions of the NDF and the JVP leadership had resulted in these two parties deciding to contest under a new symbol, the trophy but it was not known whether the other smaller Opposition political parties like the SLMC were prepared to work with these two parties or contest under the trophy in the April 8 Parliamentary Election.

In the North and East too the TNA was also not aligning with the UNP and was contesting alone while the veteran democratic politician V Anandasangaree who refused to be an LTTE proxy is contesting separately as the TULF.

EPDP too is also in the fray while the UPFA is also contesting the North and East.

SLMC former Parliamentarian and Eastern Provincial Council Minister M.L.M. Hisbullah resigned from the party to contest the Parliamentary Election from the UPFA.