South Asia Monitor: Sri Lanka: "Cohabitation"–Opportunity or Paralysis - January 1, 2002

January 1, 2002

Sri Lanka's parliamentary election December 5 returned a solid majority for the United National Party (UNP) and its allies. The UNP’s Ranil Wickremasinghe has been sworn in as prime minister; Chandrika Kumaratunga, of the People's Alliance (PA), still has four years remaining of her term as president. Political "cohabitation" will not come easily to either of these bitter political adversaries. If both mobilize their best instincts and political selfrestraint, however, it could be an opportunity to develop a broad national approach to the country’s searing ethnic conflict.