No dissolution of Par, no snap polls: Rajapaksa

Colombo, July 22: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has ruled out snap elections and early dissolution of parliament, claiming that his ruling coalition was commanding a ''comfortable majority'' in the 225-member House with more oppositions legislators defecting to the government.

Addressing a political rally at Nawalapitiya in the central Kandy district, Mr Rajapakse said, ''There will be no parliamentary polls till 2010 and the presidential poll till 2011'' despite a surge in his party's popularity following the recent military triumph against the Tigers in the East.

Refuting the allegations by the Opposition parties that his government was so fragile that it depends on the 17 breakaway members of the opposition parties to survive, the President said his government did not face the risk of fall.

''With the military victory of capturing the entire Eastern province from the LTTE, we can easily go in for a quick election now and win handsomely. But, I don't want to waste millions of public money on another election before it is due,'' Mr Rajapakse told mediapersons after yesterday's rally at Nawalapitiya.

''Instead, I can use the money for development projects in the East,'' he said, adding that the government has undertaken a 180-day rapid development programme to rebuild the war-ravaged Eastern province.

Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) suffered a blow last week when two dissident legislators, including former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, formed an alliance with the main opposition United National Party (UNP) aiming to oust the incumbent government.

The opposition parties have accused the Rajapakse government of politicising the military victory in the Eastern province to boost its image and to cover up the mounting criticism against skyrocketing cost of living.

UNI