'LTTE trying to engineer govt's fall'

In a bid to bring down the Sri Lankan government, Tamil Tigers have asked a pro-rebel political alliance to be present in full strength on Monday in Parliament to defeat the budget proposals for 2008 as a key aide to President Mahinda Rajapakse said the option to ban the LTTE was still open.

"We have got information that the LTTE representatives have called on the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) to return from wherever they are and be present in Parliament tomorrow to defeat the budget with the aim of bringing down the government," a top government official said seeking anonymity.

When contacted, senior TNA member Suresh Premachandran said it was not true and in fact the group, which has 22 MPs, had taken a decision to vote against the budget one month ago.

Premachandran made it clear that the TNA will vote against the Sri Lankan budget proposals for 2008 that will come up for clearance tomorrow.

"No sensible Tamil person will support the budget which has increased the defence allocation to 166.4 billion Sri Lankan Rupees, up almost 20 per cent as against last year," he said, adding "this was only to fight the LTTE."

Meanwhile, some senior political leaders said the TNA may after all not get all its MPs for a showdown and may restrict its members to vote against the budgetary proposals in Parliament.

Read more,
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200711181541.htm

Rajapaksa to face toughest political test on Monday

The Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa rode to power in December 2005 on a surging wave of Sinhala majoritarian nationalism. He went on to prove his credentials as a tough cookie when he took the Tamil Tigers head-on and drove them out of the Eastern province in 2006-7.

But by year end, on the eve of the voting on the annual budget, he finds himself on a shaky political wicket in his own turf, the Sinhala-dominiated South Sri Lanka.

The budget for the year 2008 is to come up for voting on Monday, and Rajapaksa is not at all certain if it will get even the simple majority which is required.

This is because of internal dissensions, opposition from those who had been supporting the government from outside, and lack of a firm
commitment from alliance partners themselves.

As per the Sri Lankan constitution, defeat of the budget need not necessarily mean the exit of the government or the dissolution of parliament, because the budget can be presented again by the same government or any other government which the President may cobble together.

Read more,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=

Congress takes on Karunanidhi over ode to LTTE leader

The Congress Saturday implicitly criticised Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi over his ode to a slain Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger leader, saying it was bound to hurt the sentiments of party members.

In a clear reference to a poem Karunanidhi wrote in memory of S.P. Thamilchelvan, the Congress said that the 'sentiments of all Congress men and women are bound to get hurt if the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is eulogised in any manner'.

Thamilchelvan, the LTTE political wing leader, was killed in a bombing raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force in the island's north Nov 2.

Read more,
http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20071117/81112.htm

Mission in Eritrea to isolate LTTE

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama on Wednesday moved the Cabinet to approve a Sri Lanka mission in Eritrea, as a precaution against the LTTE claiming Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI).
Political circles are agog with the news that the LTTE might declare UDI by end November and Minister Bogollagama is of the view that Eritrea would recognise them as a separate entity, since they have maintained close links with the LTTE.

It is said that Eritrea has been on the list of main arms suppliers for the LTTE. Eritrea declared independence from Ethiopia in mid 90s.

The Cabinet, looking at the urgency, had approved the proposal on a priority basis.
The government had already delayed the setting up of two other missions in Afghanistan and Madagascar.

Extracted from,
http://www.nation.lk/2007/11/18/news3.htm