PM says Chandrika should have consulted him

United National Front (UNF) supporters are to give Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe a rousing welcome on his return to Sri Lanka today from an official visit to the US in a show of strength and solidarity.

As the constitutional crisis triggered by the sacking of three cabinet colleagues by President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Tuesday in a power-grab continued to grip the nation, Wickremesinghe told Guff News by telephone soon after his meeting with US President George Bush on Wednesday that he had 130 members of parliament out of a total 225. "I control of the House, " he said.

He said the sacking of the three cabinet ministers holding the portfolios of defence, interior and mass communication as well as some of the appointments Kumaratunga made since are "illegal".

Asked whether he was going to take the case tothe Supreme Court – where he has already had a run-in trying to impeach the Chief Justice, he said that was unlikely. "The AG has said however that in a cohabitation government, where one party controls parliament, and the other is the executive president, the president must consult the prime minister before taking such vital decisions."

Wickremesinghe said he did not back moves by a section of his cabinet to impeach Kumaratunga and that he had no plans to impeach the Chief Justice. But a section of hardline UNF ministers however did hand over an impeachment motion to the Speaker on Tuesday co-inciding with the sacking and the suspension of parliament by Kumaratunga. They also began collecting signatures for an impeachment motion against the President.

Kumaratunga who was to declare a state of emergency in the country following what has been described here as a 'constitutional coup' pulled back from the exercise. Her party sources said that the gazette was ready but not issued. They said the purpose was to give police powers to the armed forces in the event of sabotage and resistance by UNF supporters. However Government Printer Neville Nanayakkara said that the regulations would only be released late last night.

Fearing unrest when Wickremesinghe returns today, the president summoned a meeting of top police officers to discuss security arrangements, a police source said.

Political analysts here say that the reason behind the non-issue was because the President would have been bound to recall parliament within days of a state of emergency being declared and have it passed. This would mean that parliament which has been suspended by her till November 19 will have to meet by November 14 leaving her less time to win over UNF MPs and topple Wickremesinghe. Put to a vote, the emergency motion could also have been defeated. They did not rule out a state of emergency been however declared to clamp down on today's planned welcome reception for the Prime Minister, or closer to November 9 when the ten days would make it to November 19, the date until which parliament is suspended.

At a post cabinet briefing yesterday UNF ministers claimed that appointments to the head of the state controlled Lake House newspapers and the television station ITN were illegal as these appointments must be made by the Public Trustee and the Finance Ministry.

Kumaratunga's loyalist were moving fast to capitalize on the situation and have acted to take control over the state run media. Some of the close associates of Kumaratunga have been named to the top positions in the state media institutions.

Kumaratunga was reported to be planning out more changes in the institutions coming under her purview.

The institutions have been placed under heavy armed guard fearing that there could be reprisal attacks from government supporters.

The cabinet moved a resolution demanding the immediate re-instatement of the three ministers sacked by Kumaratunga as troops patrolled Colombo streets in scenes last witnessed before the truce with Tamil rebels.