Sri Lanka's President Working to Form Coalition Gov't as Reb

Anjana Pasricha

In Sri Lanka, President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party is trying to get support from smaller allies after her party won the most seats in Friday's parliamentary elections, but fell short of a majority. Meanwhile, Tamil Tiger rebels are warning they could resume their struggle for a separate homeland if the new government does not meet their demands.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga's Freedom Alliance needs to form a coalition¹ with other parties in order to get a majority in Parliament, but it will not be easy.

So far, none of the smaller parties that made gains in Friday's elections have shown any inclination² to join hands with the Freedom Alliance in forming a new government. These groups include a party of Buddhist³ monks⁵, the party backed by Tamil Tiger rebels or lawmakers representing Muslims.

A political analyst⁶ with the National Peace Council, Jehan Perera, says the smaller parties represent ethnic⁷ or religious groups, and are not willing to join President Kumaratunga's alliance because they perceive it as favoring the majority ethnic group, the Sinhalese.

"Now these parties don't find the president's alliance attractive, because the president's alliance campaigned on a rather nationalist - Sinhala nationalistic platform," he said.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that without a majority in Parliament, a new government will not be able to push ahead with peace talks with the rebels or economic development.

Political analysts⁸ say the Freedom Alliance may go ahead and form a minority government, and seek allies later.

The Freedom Alliance won 105 seats in the 225-member house, while its rival headed by the prime minister's United National Party trailed behind with 82 seats.

The election was called three years ahead of schedule after differences erupted last November between the president and prime minister about peace negotiations⁹ with Tamil rebels.

Peace talks were suspended amid the political wrangling¹⁰, but so far a cease-fire has held.

The Tamil Tigers warned they could take up arms again unless Sri Lanka's new government grants them self rule in Tamil-dominated areas.

The Tigers say the strong performance of a group they backed in the elections is an endorsement¹¹ of their freedom struggle. The rebel-backed Tamil National Alliance won 22 seats in the new Parliament, and is now the third largest party in the House.

The Tigers fought for two decades for a separate Tamil homeland until signing a cease-fire two years ago, and has agreed to negotiate for autonomy rather than a separate homeland.

The Freedom Alliance says it is committed to the peace process and resuming negotiations.
注释：
Sri Lanka [sri5lANkE] n. 斯里兰卡，南亚岛国。
allies [`AlaIz] n. 联盟国，同盟者
parliamentary [7pB:lE5mentEri] adj. 议会的
fell short of. 没打中目标
Freedom Alliance 自由联合
coalition [7kEuE5liFEn] n. 联合
Buddhist [5budist] adj. 佛教的
monk⁴ [mQNk] n. 僧侣
Tamil Tiger rebels 帕米尔之虎反叛军
ethnic [5eWnik] adj. 种族的
religious [ri5lidVEs] adj. 宗教的
alliance [E5laiEns] n. 联盟
perceive [pE5si:v] vt. 察觉
minority [mai5nCriti] n. 少数
rival [5raivEl] n. 竞争者, 对手
trail behind 落后于
erupt [i5rQpt] vi. 爆发
amid [E5mid] prep. 在……中
wrangle [5rAN^l] vi. 争论, 争吵
cease-fire n. 停火
grant [^rB:nt] vt. 同意, 准予
endorsement [in5dC:smEnt] n. 认可

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

5 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

11 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。