RIYADH, 9 February 2004 — There was mixed reaction among Sri Lankan expatriates in the Kingdom yesterday over President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s dissolution of Parliament and setting the date for an early election.
Some of them felt that the peace process and reconstruction programs have been plunged into uncertainty while others stated that the sacking of the Parliament has signaled an end to the power struggle between the president and prime minister.
S.K. Subramaniam, president of the Sri Lanka Expatriates Society in Riyadh, said he felt the dissolution would put an end to the power struggle and added that it was for the people to choose between the two in the forthcoming election. Ravi Wijesekera, the society’s vice president in Dammam, said the majority Sinhalese are peace-loving and they want to coexist with other communities. They would be happy if the dissolution helps the nation to achieve peace.
“Sri Lankans have been given another opportunity to express their opinion on the peace process, cost of living and a corruption-free society,” said Lakshman Rupasinghe, founder president of the society in Jeddah. Appaiah Packianathan, a senior banker with the Saudi British Bank, said that at a time when the country was recovering from its economic problems, the snap election would put a big burden on the national exchequer. A Muslim lawyer, who requested anonymity, criticized the two leaders for failing to set aside personal differences for the good of the country.
