Government adopts 'wait and see' tactic on Parliament majority

July 13 (IL) Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha said ‘wait and see’, when reporters asked him, whether the Government has managed to secure 113 Parliamentary seats for a majority.

During a news conference late last week, Minister Premajayantha failed to give an assurance on the matter, despite continuous claims that they will show their majority on July 20, when Parliament resumes.

The Government’s bid to secure Ceylon Workers Congress’s eight Parliamentary seats, had till yesterday not materialized, sources said. The CWC is reportedly not ready for any compromise and the party leadership has informed the Alliance that unless all their demands are granted there would be no agreement between the two parties.

The CWC has demanded for two key Ministries and deputy ministries, the Executive Presidency and the PR system must not be abolished and the upper Kotmale hydropower project be dropped

Meanwhile, despite the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) also putting forward two demands to the Government, as their condition to support them, “the Government has not even called us for a dialogue,” SLMC General Secretary Hasan Ali said. The two demands by the SLMC are: to abandon the Government’s plan to establish a constitutional council and accommodate a separate Muslim delegation at peace talks