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JVP walks before talks: But in no-win situ
By Harinda Vidanage
Long drawn talks between the SLFP and the JVP collapsed on Friday after JVP leaders had spent more than an hour walking along Galle Face green and a second hour kicking their heels at the President's House before they eventually got to meet President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

A JVP official said they had been initially told the meeting would take place at 5.30 p.m. But when they came to the President's House they were informed that President would be late and they spent an hour at Galle Face green and called over for the meeting, but had to wait for another hour until the President arrived.

He said this was the second time JVP leaders were subjected to this waiting treatment - a fortnight ago they were turned away from President's House after being told they had come on the wrong date.

Informed sources said the talks collapsed mainly due to the disagreement by the JVP on a document submitted by the SLFP on the proposed electoral alliance. The meeting, which lasted more than two hours, also saw both parties unable to come to a consensus on issues of devolution of power as a resolution to the ethnic question and the role of Norway as a mediator in a future SLFP- JVP coalition government.

JVP officials said they believed the electoral alliance draft giving the JVP only 26 seats was intended to undermine or ridicule the JVP and was more suitable for a party like the LSSP.

JVP propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa told The Sunday Times they had decided to call off the discussions to form a broader nationalistic alliance with the SLFP but would continue efforts to topple the government by supporting the SLFP. But the methodology of that exercise had to be discussed extensively.

SLFP sources told The Sunday Times that President Kumaratunga had taken over the discussions saying they had to seal the alliance quickly to topple the UNF government but gradually the President developed a passive approach.

They said this was evident at the recent 52 nd anniversary gathering of the SLFP in Kurunegala. The president personally informed Anura Bandaranaike not to talk anything about the alliance and also advised speakers at the gathering to leave the issues connected with the alliance to be taken up by her.

Mr. Bandaranaike was quite vociferous and confident on cementing the alliance and was outspoken on the issue at other public gatherings. The president openly declared that the SLFP was for a devolution of power as a solution to the ethnic question and insisted that the problem in the proposed JVP- SLFP alliance materialisng was the JVP's opposition to this position.

Meanwhile the JVP in a statement issued yesterday said Friday's talks ended inconclusively mainly due to the disagreement on the ethnic issue.

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