The Sri Lankan government yesterday suffered a setback in its plans to alter the country's constitution and end the 17-year-old civil war that has cost 60,000 lives. Senior ministers indefinitely postponed the bill after they realised they could not get the two-thirds majority to get the changes approved by parliament.
The decision to drop the reforms is a personal rebuff for President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who over the last five years has made the issue her top priority.
In the run-up to the vote members of the cabinet were frantically lobbying MPs from smaller parties and the main opposition United National party to give their backing to the changes.
Disgruntled ministers allege that the reason they were forced to postpone the vote was because 10 opposition members who favoured the new constitution were flown out of the country by their party to prevent them from voting. "It looks as if the opposition has won this battle of the backroom negotiations." a government minister said.
A key part of the constitutional changes included a devolution package that the president hoped would eventually persuade Tamil Tiger rebels to abandon their separatist war.
