Sri Lanka's Buddhist Monk party joins Rajapaksa govt

Colombo, Jan 31 (UNI) Sri Lanka's radical Buddhist monk party Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) today said it has decided to join the ruling coalition led by President Rajapaksa and accept one cabinet ministerial portfolio.

''Today we have decided to join the government. One of our nine Monk parliamentarians, Omalpe Sobitha Thera has resigned to pave way for the party chief organiser, Champika Ranawaka to become the member of parliament and then a cabinet minister,'' the JHU's parliament group leader Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thera told UNI over the phone.

''Mr Champika Ranawaka (a non-monk) will take oath as the Minister of Environment within a couple of days,'' the JHU's parliament group leader said.

The parliament strength of the Rajapaksa government, which commands a two thirds majority of 153 seats (including the JVP's 38 seats) in the 225-member parliament, will now increase to 162.

It was only on Sunday that President Rajapaksa administered oath of office to 52-member cabinet, largest in history, with a group of at least 18 prominent parliamentarians of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the six-member Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) being inducted into the government.

Except for the remaining 44 MPs of the mainstream UNP and 22 MPs from the pro-LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) all the other parties and its legislators are supporting the ruling coalition.

The Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which supported President Rajapaksa during the presidential campaign has threatened to withdraw its support to the government following recent political development. And even if, the JVP withdraws its support, the ruling coalition will still command a comfortable simple majority in the house.

The Indian Origin Tamil parties such as the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and the Up-country People's Front (UPF) and the one-member anti-LTTE Eelam People's Democratic Party are already extending their support to the government in and out of the parliament.

UNI