Sri Lanka Marxists to back president

Kumaratunga: Searching for a way out of the crisis

The main Sri Lankan Marxist party says it will back the minority government in exchange for a set of conditions which include key economic decisions.

The Marxist JVP (People's Liberation Front) has 10 seats in the 225-seat parliament and its support is crucial for the survival of the administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

The JVP says it will soon formally sign an agreement with the government offering its support for a year. But it will not join the administration.

The JVP wants the government to freeze its privatisation programme, implement labour laws and avoid signing agreements with international lending organisations.

Tough conditions

On Monday, President Chandrika Kumaratunga cancelled a referendum on constitutional change and ordered parliament to reconvene a day early, granting two of the JVP's demands.

JVP's demands

Halt privatisation, implement labour laws

No deals with international lending agencies

Cancel constitution referendum and reconvene parliament

Limit cabinet size to 20 ministers

Independent commissions to run police, civil service, judiciary and elections

"What we are trying to achieve is some basic democratic reforms and then go for elections within one year after having independent commissions to run the police, the public service, the judiciary and the elections office," the JVP's leader in parliament, Wimar Weerawansa, said.

The JVP have also demanded that the cabinet be shrunk from 44 to a mere 20 ministers.

Including the deputy ministers, there will be a total of 38 ministers out of a job - fertile ground for the opposition to hunt for defectors according to the BBC's Frances Harrison in Colombo.

Already there are reports of ministers and MPs who are willing to cross over to the opposition - and it only needs seven defectors to tilt the balance back in favour of the opposition parties in parliament.

Shaky future

The JVP have also insisted that there should be no negotiations with the Tamil Tiger rebels during the one-year probationary period of support they are offering.

The JVP wants no talks with the Tamil Tigers

"The war has been going on for the last 20 years and is likely to go on. We will not support talks until the rebels are willing to come down from their demand for a separate state," Mr Weerawansa said.

Correspondents say all of this will be extremely difficult for the government to abide by and it is unlikely the marriage of convenience will last a year.

Instead, it looks like a temporary arrangement that enables the government to avoid a no confidence motion being tabled in parliament this week.

After the first day of sitting it is possible the president will suspend the house for another month, until October, when she can call fresh elections, which may now be the only way out of this crisis.