COLOMBO, Feb 12 (UNI) Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today accused president Chandrika Kumaratunga of seriously jeopardising the Norwegian-brokered peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, by sacking 39 junior ministers after dissolving the parliament and calling for a snap poll unilaterally.
The prime minister, in a letter to the president today, stated the sacking of 39 junior ministers including key ministers appointed to provide urgent relief and humanitarian assistance in the North-East, such as rehabilitation, resettlement and refugees and hindu religious affairs will affect the peace process.
"The abolition of these ministries will have serious difficulty in carrying forward the basic elements of peace process and continuing the programmes of assistance and rehabilitation, which complement ongoing action on the peace process." Referring to the sacking of Milinda Moragoda, a key minister involved in the peace dialogue with the LTTE and other related activities, Wickremesinghe stated that Kumaratunga's actions have crippled the efforts of the government to fulfil its responsibilities under certain provisions of the truce agreement.
Maintaining that his United National Front (UNF) government's powers to implement certain other provisions of the truce agreement has already been affected after the president arbitrarily took over three ministries, including defence and interior, the Lankan prime minister, in the letter, said, "I have to point out that through actions, you are seriously jeopardising the implementation of the peace process."