Saturday, February 26 2005 16:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: A Tamil party representing workers of Indian origin kept up pressure on Sri Lanka's coalition Government with a threat to quit, but stopped short of defecting to the Opposition, officials said today (Feb 26, 2005).

The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) said they were dissatisfied with the Government, but believed President Chandrika Kumaratunga was still committed to helping the minority community represented by them.

"We feel we were unable to deliver the needs of the people," CWC spokesman R Yogarajan said. "We are not receiving the respect that is due to us from the Government though the President is endeavouring to help our people."

The immediate reason for the tension is the naming of a sports ground in central Sri Lanka. The CWC wanted it named after its leader but a rival had other plans.

A Government political source said the issue was being addressed and it was expected to be resolved soon.

Even if all eight legislators of the CWC quit, there is no immediate danger of Kumaratunga's Government collapsing as it would still have 111 seats in the 225-member house where the Opposition is divided.

Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance was elected as a minority Government with just 105 seats, but they have now increased the number to 119 with the support of the CWC and a few other defectors.

A Parliamentary official said the two CWC ministers did not show up in the Assembly today to demonstrate that they had quit.

"We have told them to give us a letter requesting seats in the Opposition if indeed they are leaving the Government," a Parliament official said. "But they haven't done that."

Political sources said the CWC's threat to quit was probably linked to an attempt to obtain more concessions from the administration.

The CWC traditionally had sided with the ruling party and is known to stage strikes in tea plantations and threaten to quit to win their demands.