Word: kumaratunga
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...reform program, despite a surge in support for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which gained 40 seats. Who's In Charge Here? SRI LANKA The Norwegian government said it would withdraw from its role as mediator in the peace process until the power struggle between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was resolved. Kumaratunga has accused Wickremesinghe of conceding too much in the negotiations with the separatist Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka: Peace in The Balance Diabetes Hope U.S. Massachusetts General Hospital scientists announced a breakthrough that may lead to a cure for insulin-dependent diabetes. The researchers...
...Perhaps most alarming was the realization that Kumaratunga was counting on the Tigers to stand back calmly and watch the power struggle play out. The LTTE has previously refused to deal with the President, claiming it cannot trust her. "She's almost daring the Tigers to mobilize," Wickremesinghe told TIME on his return. Quite how dangerous a game Kumaratunga is playing is apparent in the small print of a public-security order she issued last Friday ordering the army to deploy across the island's 25 districts. If carried out to the letter, this would effectively mean a new army...
...deeply personal animosity between President and Prime Minister stems from the instrumental role Wickremesinghe played in unraveling Kumaratunga's coalition government in 2001 and later defeating her party in a general election. Wickremesinghe has gone on to jealously guard for himself the international acclaim he has won for holding talks with the Tigers, excluding Kumaratunga, who made initial peace moves in the 1980s and 1990s, from any role in the negotiations. "At most times, I came to know of decisions on defense matters after they were taken and only from the media," complained Kumaratunga in her second national address. "Ranil...
...drove into Colombo, a smiling and joking Wickremesinghe was clearly relishing what he saw as a strategic blunder by a President who he believed had overplayed her hand and succeeded only in galvanizing his support. The unexpected scale of his reception appeared to confirm the widespread assessment that Kumaratunga was in danger of losing any trace of moral authority and also any snap election she called. Gesturing at the crowds, Wickremesinghe said, "I can't complain, can I? If there is a crisis here, the crisis is not mine...
Chandrika Kumaratunga President, 58 ? Elected: November 1994 ? Powers: Appoints the Prime Minister. Can suspend or dissolve Parliament, call elections and declare state of emergency. Commands the military ? Style: Regal (her father and mother were both Prime Ministers), combative, and tough (her father and husband were both assassinated). Friends say she became even more resolute after losing the use of one eye in a Tiger bomb attack in 1999 ? View of Prime Minister: That he stole the peace process she started and is conceding too much to the Tigers...