Apr 4 (TS) Sri Lanka's fledgling peace process suffered a major setback over the weekend as voters abandoned the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in crucial parliamentary elections. more..

Apr 4 (Reuters) Sri Lanka was likely to shift its economic focus after the election of a new, more left-leaning government at the weekend that could alter the island's two-year programme of privatising state assets and courting investment. more..

Apr 4 (BBC) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party is set to become the largest party in parliament following elections. Her United People's Freedom Alliance party is well ahead of Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe's party, with three-quarters of the votes counted. more..

Apr 4 (AFP) A hung parliament resulting from Sri Lanka's elections could further hamper efforts to end three decades of ethnic war as a weak government cannot engage in tough talks with Tamil Tiger rebels, diplomats and analysts said. more..

Apr 4 (TN) "We have been closely watching the current political situation," TNA leader and the re-elected Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.R.Sampanthan told Mr.Bradman Weerakoon, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe in a telephonic conversation initiated by the latter Sunday morning, more..

Colombo: UNP:9(41.88%) UPFA:8(39.2%) JHU:3(18.0%)

Kandy: UNP:6(50.0%) UPFA:5(42.7%) JHU:1(6.7%)

Nuwara Eliya: UNP:4(54.0%) UPFA:2(25.3%) UCPF:1(15.2%)

Galle: UPFA:6(56.6%) UNP:4(38.7%) JHU:0(4.2%)

Jaffna: ITAK:8(90.6%) EPDP:1(6.6%) IND1:0(1.8%)

Batticaloa: ITAK:4(66.7%) SLMC:1(17.9%) UPFA:0(10.9%) UNP:0(2.6%)

Anuradhapara: UPFA:5(57.2%) UNP:3(39.9%) JHU:0(2.2%)

Ratnapura: UPFA:6(53.1%) UNP:4(41.8%) JHU:0(4.2%)

Digamadulla: UPFA:3(38.5%) SLMC:2(26.4%) ITAK:1(19.1%) UNP:1(14.5%)

Kurunegala: UPFA:9(51.9%) UNP:7(42.9%) JHU:0(4.7%)

Total (Seats): UPFA:92(45.6%) UNP:71(37.8%) ITAK:20(6.8%) JHU:7(6.0%) SLMC:4(2.0%) UCPF:1(0.5%) EPDP:1(0.2%)

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District	UPFA	|UNP	|ITAK	|JHU	|SLMC	|UCPF	|EPDP	|Tot
Colombo	8	9	-	3	-	-	-	20
Gampaha	9	6	-	2	-	-	-	17
Kalutara	6	3	-	1	-	-	-	10
Kandy	5	6	-	1	-	-	-	12
Matale	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	5
Nuwara Eliya	2	4	-	-	-	1	-	7
Galle	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	10
Matara	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	8
Hambantota	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	7
Jaffna	-	-	8	-	-	-	1	9
Vanni	-	1	5	-	-	-	-	6
Batticoloa	-	-	4	-	1	-	-	5
Digamadulla	3	1	1	-	2	-	-	7
Trincomalee	1	-	2	-	1	-	-	4
Kurunegala	9	7	-	-	-	-	-	16
Puttalam	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	8
Anura'pura	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	8
Polonnaruwa	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	5
Badulla	3	5	-	-	-	-	-	8
Monaragala	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	5
Ratnapura	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	10
Kegalle	5	4	-	-	-	-	-	9
National List	13	11	2	2	1	-	-	29
Total	105	82	22	9	5	1	1	225

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Apr 4 (TCM) The political alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga won the largest number of seats in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections, officials said today, apparently forcing aside her longtime rival, the former prime minister. more..

Apr 4 (VOA) It was an election that was supposed to settle one of the most bitter political feuds in Sri Lanka's modern history, the rivalry between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. more..

Apr 5 (DJ) Foreign investment into Sri Lanka likely will slow on concerns over the reform agenda and handling of a fragile peace process by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, whose alliance emerged victorious in the country's snap general election. more..

Apr 5 (TN) New Prime Minister of the thirteenth parliament is to be sworn in on Monday. The new cabinet of ministers is also expected to take oaths on the same day. President Kumaratunge is expected to invite the leader of the political party that has got highest number of seats in the Friday poll, the UPFA, to form the government, more..

Apr 5 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party led election results but failed to secure a stable government needed to revive peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels. Results of Friday's vote gave Kumaratunga's leftist Freedom Alliance 105 seats, or eight seats short of the magic number of 113 needed to win an absolute majority in the 225-member legislature. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's alliance said Sunday it would step up all-round cooperation with neighbouring India after forming a new government. "India has been Sri Lanka's closest neighbour and friend, and we intend to keep it that way," presidential spokesman Harim Peiris told more..

Apr 5 (HT) The UPFA, led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, has emerged as the single largest party in the elections to the Sri Lankan parliament held on April 2. It has defeated the ruling UNF led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe by 23 seats. more..

Apr 5 (CSM) One positive outcome of Sept. 11 was that it shed a harsh light on terrorist tactics in several civil wars. One was in Sri Lanka, the island nation off India where a cease-fire was declared after 9/11 by the Tamil Tigers guerrilla group. more..

Apr 5 (AP) Sri Lanka's president, whose political alliance won the most seats in parliamentary elections, plans to make a resumption of peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels her "top priority," her chief aide said Sunday. more..

Apr 5 (UNI) South Asia Swimming Federation (SASF) have decided to have a separate competition for Water Polo among its member countries later this year, according to SASF secretary General Kamran Butt here today. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s centre-left alliance is to form a new government in Sri Lanka despite a hung parliament, amid indications that the new prime minister would be the Tamil-speaking Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Apr 5 (TN) The Tamil people have delivered a clear message on the "concept of the Tamil Homeland, Tamil Nationalism and the right for Tamil self rule should be accepted as the basic aspirations of the Tamil people and that the Tamil national problem should be politically resolved on that basis, more..

Apr 5 (IL) The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has accused their former rebels A.L.M. Athaullah and Anver Ismail, contesting under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to have made numerous attempts to rig FRiday's poll in the Ampara (Digamadulla) District on a mass scale. more..

Apr 5 (SLA) A civilian has received gun shot injuries when an unidentified group shot him with a pistol while he was in the general area of MAMANGAMA, in BATTICALOA, on 04 April 2004 around 9.30 p.m. more..

Apr 5 (TN) About five hundred displaced Tamil voters of Thennamaravadi village, seventy-three km off north of Trincomalee town Sunday returned to their temporary residence Ponnagar in the Mullaitivu district in the LTTE held Vanni region, after voting in the Friday poll, sources said. more..

Apr 5 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's cricket board already know the results of Muttiah Muralitharan's suspect bowling action assessment but are yet to publicly release the details. University of Western Australia biomechanist Bruce Elliott, who supervised last week's tests, said on Monday he had spoken to the Sri Lanka board to pass on key data information. more..

Apr 5 (HS) UNIVERSITY of Western Australia bio-mechanic Daryl Foster has denied testing of Muthiah Muralidaran's action had already cleared the Sri Lankan off-spinner of throwing. As Muralidaran flew home to Sri Lanka yesterday after Thursday's tests, speculation mounted that his controversial doosra was deemed legal by UWA experts. more..

Apr 5 (AFP) President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s centre-left alliance is to form a new government in Sri Lanka despite a hung parliament, amid indications yesterday night the new prime minister would be the Tamil-speaking Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Apr 5 (Guardian) The president of Sri Lanka tightened her grip on power yesterday in parliamentary elections which also saw a rebel-backed Tamil political party emerge as a third force. more..

Apr 5 (LT) Election of 35 candidates out of 39 who contested from the JVP at the General Election is considered as exceptional. Also the candidates who contested from the JVP have beaten the other candidates who contested from the same list in most places. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka is most likely to get a new prime minister Monday, with the frontrunners for the job being veteran politician Mahinda Rajapakse and former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) Sri Lanka's new government will have to tread a careful path as it tries to resume a stalled Norwegian-mediated peace process with Tamil Tiger guerrillas who are themselves facing one of their worst crises. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) Outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Monday warned of political instability as Sri Lanka braced for a minority government and there is a question mark on the future of the Norwegian-mediated peace process. more..

Apr 5 (IANS) When Sri Lanka's new parliament convenes, it will have some unusual members: Buddhist monks in their familiar maroon robes and with tonsured heads bracing to play the role of politicians this country has not seen. more..

Apr 5 (CNN) President Chandrika Kumaratunga is holding talks with hard-line allies and smaller parties in a bid to pull together a coalition after failing to win a majority to form a government in Friday's election. more..

Apr 5 (Rediff) For a military commander, Lieutenant General Lionel Balagalle is atypically soft-spoken and suave. But Sri Lanka's chief of defence staff is also known for his no-nonsense attitude when dealing with both his troops and his former enemy, the LTTE. more..

Apr 5 (Reuters) Sri Lanka's minority government will have a tough time resuming talks with the Tamil Tigers after voters elected an ethnically divided parliament and rejected the outgoing prime minister's approach to peace, analysts said on Monday. more..

Apr 5 (Reuters) Tamil Tiger rebels, battling for a separate state for the past two decades, say the island's general election validates their struggle for a homeland, but vow to fight on if their demands are not met. more..

Apr 5 (Xinhua) President Chandrika Kumaratunga's opposition freedom alliance won the Friday parliamentary election with 105 seats but needs the support of other small parties to form a stable government as it fell short of an absolute majority in the parliament. more..

Apr 5 (NS) Please find below a request for action in a case of union repression at a Sri Lankan factory producing gloves for North American and European brands. Union members have been facing ongoing harassment, demotion and dismissal in response to their organizing efforts. more..

Apr 5 (HT) Defeated Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has warned that Chandrika Kumaratunga's minority government will not be able to conduct even normal parliamentary business and that after a period of instability, fresh elections may have to be held. more..

Apr 5 (HT) The ruling UNF lost the April 2 parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka primarily because its chief and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe failed to deliver the dividends of peace to the common man, according to an expert in political sociology. more..

Apr 5 (wsws) The election held last Friday has resulted in an indecisive outcome that can only lead to further political volatility. While President Kumaratunga’s UPFA boosted its position in the 225-seat parliament at the expense of the UNF, no party or alliance has an absolute majority. more..

Apr 5 (OW) The surprising gains made by the newly formed Buddhist monks' party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in polls indicate a rise in rightwing nationalism among the country's Sinhala majority and growing disillusionment with mainstream political parties, analysts say. more..

Apr 5 (N24) Members of Sri Lanka's mainstream rebel movement exhumed and set fire to the body of a slain parliamentary candidate who had opposed the group, police and breakaway rebels said on Monday. more..

Apr 5 (AFP) Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels warned they would return to war unless they were granted self-rule as President Chandrika Kumaratunga struggled to cobble together a coalition in a hung parliament. more..

Apr 5 (Xinhua) The naming of the new prime minister and setting up of the new government will be delayed until Tuesday, high ranking government officials said Monday. The new prime minister was to have been named Monday, signalingthe induction of the UPFA government more..

Apr 5 (HT) The Sri parliamentary elections held on April 2, just two years after the last one, have not only upset the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe, but unleashed new forces, generating hope of a better life among some, and dismay and deep apprehension among others. more..

Apr 5 (MN) "I have a strong belief that our nation will have peace but I am under no illusion that it will be easy," said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe two years ago, as his government signed a ceasefire in the civil war that had ravaged the island nation for eighteen years. Now he is out of power, and the ceasefire itself is at risk. more..

Apr 5 (IPS) Sri Lanka's new government is set to restart peace talks with the Tamil Tiger rebels, in a shaky process that has been complicated by a split in rebel ranks but now also has to pay equal attention to rural poverty and economic issues. more..

Apr 5 (PTI) Faced with dissent in her own party, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga today postponed the swearing-in of the Prime Minister after fierce opposition to her choice for former foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar for the top job. more..

Apr 5 (BBC) The future of Sri Lanka's fragile peace process now hinges on how President Kumaratunga's winning political alliance and the Tamil rebels heal rifts within their own ranks. Analysts believe that the island's two-year-old ceasefire will continue to hold in a war-weary nation. more..

Apr 5 (BBC) "Don't call us MPs. Call us advisers to the people," the ochre-robed Buddhist monks tell a gathering of devotees at a temple on the outskirts of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. "You have given us strength by electing us." more..