Colombo: Sri Lankan government will go ahead with its plan to introduce a Constitutional amendment to curb President Chandrika Kumaratunga's power to dissolve Parliament, after failing to evolve a compromise with her, ruling party sources said on September 7.

Kumaratunga chose not to give any response to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's request for inputs from her by September 6 to finalise the proposed 19th amendment. Her People's Alliance (PA) party decided to oppose the Bill.

The ruling United National Party (UNP) has now decided to gazette the amendment before introducing it in Parliament, as the President's response did not materialise despite a delayed deadline, the party officials said.

The UNP and its allies are confident that the amendment can be passed and the President's power to dissolve the House after it completes the first year of its six- year term can be taken away with the help of cross-voting by dissidents among her own party MPs.

The Opposition has hit back by presenting a no-trust motion against Defence Minister Tilak Marapana, who lifted the ban on the LTTE three days ago. A Muslim constituent of the PA initiated the motion charging Marapana with failing to protect Muslims in the east from the rebels, state radio said.

The developments mark a decisive phase in the gradual weakening of any spirit of co- existence between the two leaders.

On September 3, the warring leaders seemed close to a compromise when Wickremesinghe called on her for a "cordial meeting" on the amendment, which will take away her power to dissolve the House as long as the government enjoys majority, but basic differences persist.

The continuing wrangle is also taking its toll on the ongoing peace initiatives, as the People's Alliance parliamentarians resolved on September 6 to oppose the government's decision to lift the ban on the LTTE without waiting for peace talks to begin and make some progress.

The government will now introduce the amendment in Parliament, but voting on it is not expected for a few weeks, as the Supreme Court may first have to decide on its constitutionality and whether it needs to go before the people at a referendum besides a two-thirds majority in the House.

The government is confident that many PA MPs would vote with it in a bid to secure their tenure, using an immunity clause in the draft bill to protect members from losing their seats for defying any party whip. The UNP says the PA is divided on the issue, as a few senior MPs did not attend a Parliamentary group meeting on September 6.

The government constituents have 114 MPs on their side, and can expect to get the backing of 15 Tamil MPs who were elected on a pro-peace and pro-LTTE platform. The PA has 77 legislators and the leftist anti-peace Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) has 16 members in the 225-member House.

The PA has also decided to examine the legality of the government's lifting of the LTTE ban without the President's consent, and may approach the Supreme Court under the Sixth Amendment that says any citizen or body could seek legal remedy against any group or party that has establishment of a separate state as its objective.

The PA's accusation is that the government has lifted the ban merely to facilitate commencement of talks without any evidence that the Tiger rebels have given up their separatist objective.

PTI