Colombo: Sri Lanka's government on January 29 announced it was ready to face a snap Parliamentary election as President Chandrika Kumaratunga set to enter into a formal pact with a Marxist party to regain control over Parliament.

Government spokesman G L Peiris said Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's administration, which came to power in December 2001 with a narrow two-seat majority, was prepared to face an election immediately.

"The government is prepared to face the people at any time. We are not afraid," Peiris told reporters. "We have no trepidation whatsoever and we will welcome an election at any time. We are happy to renew our mandate."

He said the Norwegian-backed ceasefire between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had changed the lives of all Sri Lankans and the people overwhelmingly supported the peace drive.

President Kumaratunga, whose People's Alliance (PA) is the main Opposition in the country, has opened talks with the main Marxist group, the JVP or People's Liberation Front in a bid to form a coalition and topple the administration.

Kumaratunga, who is in an uneasy cohabitation arrangement with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, warned last week she may dismiss the government and expressed her dissatisfaction with Wickremesinghe's handling of the peace process.

A Legislator from Kumaratunga's PA, Rohitha Abeygunawardena, said the President had asked them to inform the rank and file about the new alliance with the JVP which is vehemently opposed to the peace bid and Norway's involvement in it.

PTI