• by IPS Correspondents (colombo)
• Saturday, November 12, 1994
• Inter Press Service

COLOMBO, Nov 12 (IPS) - CHANDRIKA KUMARATUNGA SATURDAY TOOK OATH AS SRI LANKA'S FIRST WOMAN AND FOURTH EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT IN SINHALA, TAMIL AND ENGLISH, SIGNIFYING HER DESIRE TO BRING HARMONY TO A NATION TORN APART BY ETHNIC STRIFE.

DRESSED IN A ROYAL BLUE SAREE, THE SORBONNE-EDUCATED KUMARATUNGA, 49, WAS SWORN IN BY CHIEF JUSTICE G P S DE SILVA AMIDST THE BLOWING OF CONCH SHELLS AND BEATING OF TRADITIONAL DRUMS.

ADDRESSING THE NATION SOON AFTER THE CEREMONY, THE NEW PRESIDENT SAID, "THE PEOPLE IN ALL THEIR DIVERSITY HAD SPOKEN IN ONE LOUD VOICE" TO GIVE HER GOVERNMENT THE MANDATE TO RESOLVE THE COUNTRY'S ETHNIC QUESTION.

LASHING OUT AT THE OPPOSITION UNITED NATIONAL PARTY (UNP) THAT HAD HELD POWER FOR 17 YEARS, KUMARATUNGA SAID HER GOVERNMENT "HAD BROUGHT AN END TO THE TIME WHEN POLITICIANS WERE A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES" AND HAD "DEBILITATED EVERY CIVILIZED INSTITUTION WE HELD SACRED".

PRESIDENT KUMARATUNGA THEN INSPECTED A GUARD OF HONOUR AS RAIN LASHED THE RED CANOPY WHERE SHE STOOD OUTSIDE THE PRESIDENTIAL SECRETARIAT.

IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER SHE MET THE PRESS IN HER FIRST OFFICIAL FUNCTION AFTER BEING SWORN-IN.

KUMARATUNGA, WHO DEFEATED HER NEAREST UNP RIVAL BY A RECORD TWO MILLION VOTES, REITERATED THAT HER GOVERNMENT HAD WON AN OVERWHELMING MANDATE FOR NEGOTIATING PEACE WITH TAMIL TIGER MILITANTS WAGING AN 11-YEAR WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE IN THE ISLAND'S NORTH AND EAST.

"IT WAS ENDORSED BY 90 PERCENT OF THE MINORITIES IN THE NORTH AND 85 PERCENT IN THE EAST AND WHAT IS TOUCHING IS THAT THE SINHALA PEOPLE HAVE ALSO GIVEN THEIR APPROVAL TO THE PEACE PROCESS," SHE SAID.

KUMARATUNGA TOOK A SERIES OF STEPS TO NEGOTIATE PEACE WITH THE TAMILS SOON AFTER BEING SWORN-IN AS PRIME MINISTER AFTER PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN AUGUST. A FOUR-MEMBER GOVERNMENT DELEGATION HELD A CRUCIAL FIRST ROUND OF TALKS WITH THE TIGERS IN THE NORTHERN REBEL STRONGHOLD OF JAFFNA LAST MONTH.

BUT THE SECOND ROUND OF TALKS, SCHEDULED FOR OCT 24, HAD TO BE PUT OFF FOLLOWING THE ASSASSINATION OF UNP LEADER AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE GAMINI DISSANAYAKE BY A SUSPECTED TIGER SUICIDE BOMBER ON THE VERY SAME DAY.

SHE SAID THERE WAS NO TIMEFRAME FOR RESUMING TALKS WITH THE TIGERS, SPECIALLY IN VIEW OF THE ASSASSINATION.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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