Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe assumed office on Sunday and called for unity after a bruising election battle with the party of his arch-rival, President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
The new prime minister was sworn in by Kumaratunga, 56, who had earlier declared that she would not be able to work with Wickremesinghe, whose United National Party (UNP) won Wednesday's parliamentary elections.
"I want to forget the past and look to the future," Wickremesinghe said shortly after taking office.
"The first thing is to get rid of confrontational politics... Our people should not be divided. Let us start a new era.
"We have some very serious problems facing the country. We can overcome them and go forward," he said.
Wickremesinghe said he will open talks with minority Tamil and Muslim parties as well as a smaller Marxist group and even members of Kumaratunga's defeated party before choosing a cabinet.
Kumaratunga avoided a confrontation with the newly elected opposition-led parliament by allowing Wickremesinghe, 52, to choose his own cabinet, but tensions are simmering.
Wickremesinghe has pledged to reopen talks with Tamil separatists in a bid to resolve Sri Lanka's long-running civil war and faces a formidable challenge in reviving an economy mired in its worst performance in more than 50 years.
The first shots in the uneasy relationship were fired by Kumaratunga who tried to take the shine off Wickremesinghe's hour of glory by blocking a live broadcast of the official swearing-in ceremony.
The television network owned by Wickremesinghe's brother was banned from entering Kumaratunga's tightly-guarded home to cover the event.
Wickremesinghe later drove to a nearby temple to seek Buddhist blessings at an impromptu ceremony.
State television said they were blocked from carrying the swearing-in ceremony live because of "obstacles" placed by Kumaratunga.
Officials said the president was "furious" over news reports that she had agreed to shed the key finance and defence ministries, which she herself holds in addition to six other portfolios.
"Reports that the president handed over the finance and defence portfolios to Mr. Wickremesinghe are totally false," a statement from her office said.
The statement underscored potential trouble ahead for Wickremesinghe in shaping his cabinet with Kumaratunga seemingly intent on playing a central role in the new government, despite the rout of her party in Wednesday's vote.
Under Sri Lanka's constitution the president appoints the cabinet in consultation with the prime minister, but arguably has the power to overrule him.
Kumaratunga remains in office as head of state until December 2005.
It is the first time in seven years that Sri Lanka will have a president from one party and a parliament controlled by a rival.
A nation-wide curfew was eased at dawn Sunday amid tension in several provincial towns where rivals clashed.
Three people were killed in post-election violence, with Elections Chief Dayananda Dissanayake branding the poll the country's bloodiest.
Clashes between political rivals claimed 46 lives during the five-week campaign and there were unprecedented levels of violence on the polling day itself, Dissanayake said.
"I have never seen an election campaign so violent," he said.
Wickremesinghe urged his supporters to help maintain law and order and asked the police and security forces to take strong action against those breaking the law -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
