There is a lot of bad blood between the two and it is difficult to predict how they would make up,'' the diplomat added. The opposition has repeatedly refused to support the government's peace plan. The reforms are aimed at providing regional autonomy to the minority Tamils and end a 17-year civil war led by the LTTE for an independent state, which they call Eelam. Analysts say Kumaratunga is preparing to move the ''crossover or defection'' bill to bolster her position in Parliament. The People's Alliance had won over a number of dissident UNP MPs to its side in the run-up to the December poll.
Analysts expect the president to call for fresh parliamentary elections in the coming weeks.
Sri Lanka has an executive presidency, but the government needs the authority of parliament to make laws. Rulers who feel that God is on their side tend to get carried away with the notion that everything they say or do is right, and that everyone who has an opposing view is somehow wrong,'' said the widely-read Sunday Times in an editorial, on January 9. The government is engaged in a desperate move to silence the independent media before general elections,'' he told a news conference. Parliamentary polls are not due until August 2000. Wickremasinghe's unexpected offer of support to Kumaratunga could ease the tension.