COLOMBO: President Junius Jayewardene yielding to public clam our, announced on Saturday the dissolution of parliament and set February 15 for Sri Lanka’s first general elections in more than a decade.

Ina television and radio address he also made it clear he was retiring after 45 years in politics, including 11 years as ruler of the Indian Ocean Island, after a presidential election on December 19.

Jayewardene, 82 said the dissolution of parliament would take effect the day after the election. But in an apparent rebuff to opposition demands he said there was no need to hold parliamentary elections at the same time as the presidential poll.

“I feel that an opportunity should be given to the people to elect a new parliament so that the new President should have the benefit of the views of the present electorate.” he said.

General elections last held in 1977, were not due until next August.

Jayewardene’s move for early elections was seen by political analysts as an attempt to defuse the widest unrest Sri Lanka has seen since its independence from Britain in 1948,

Opposition demands for parliament’s dissolution have snowballed among wide sections of society over the last two months as a general strike crippled civil administration, business and agriculture.

The Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP) drawn, mostly from the majority Sinhalese community, wants to scrap an Indian Sri Lankan pact signed by Jayewardene last year to end a revolt by minority Tamils.

Jayewardene said the Tamil conflict had abated in the north and east after the agreement but that “terrorism” in the Southern Province had begun to grow and development in the whole Island had “suffered immeasurably.”

On his retirement Jayewardene said, “My connections with the government of my country end when the newly elected President assumes office soon after the announcement of the 19th December elections results.

“My association with elected parliaments and members, both in the government and the opposition too, ends on that date.”

Jayewardene said the new parliament would meet on March 9 nominations would close on January 6.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 9, 1988