AFP/Colombo

Sri Lanka’s two biggest parties agreed yesterday to form a national unity government committed to “ethnic reconciliation” after a surge in voter support for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s reform agenda.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of Mahinda Rajapakse agreed to enter a broad-based coalition government with Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), which more than doubled its seats in Monday’s parliamentary election.
The deal, sealed as Wickremesinghe was sworn in as prime minister, is a remarkable turnaround for a country that appeared firmly in Rajapakse’s grip until his surprise defeat in January’s presidential elections.
The former strongman, who oversaw the crushing of a long-running Tamil separatist insurgency, will sit on the opposition benches along with a dissident group of loyalists.
But the SLFP, which had opposed any concessions to the Tamils, now says it will back constitutional reforms aimed at addressing minority rights and ensuring reconciliation.
In a memorandum of understanding, the two parties pledged to ensure “ethnic and religious reconciliation” in a country that still bears the scars of a separatist war that killed at least 100,000 people between 1972 and 2009.
The agreement pledges constitutional reforms to ensure ethnic unity and uphold the rights of minorities.
But it does not go into specifics and it remains unclear how the two parties will reconcile past differences, with the UNP favouring extensive devolution of power to the Tamils.
The SLFP also opposes investigations into war crimes said to have been committed by troops under Rajapakse’s command, while the UNP wants a fresh inquiry.
The SLFP is expected to secure several portfolios in a cabinet to be named on Monday under the deal, which will allow Wickremesinghe and President Maithripala Sirisena to push through their stalled programme of reforms.
Sirisena called parliamentary elections a year ahead of schedule after MPs loyal to Rajapakse consistently blocked the changes.
He wants to transfer many of the president’s executive powers, amassed by Rajapakse during his decade-long rule, back to the premier.
The new government has also pledged legislation to establish independent commissions to run the police, public service and judiciary.
Wickremesinghe’s UNP won the largest number of seats in Monday’s election, described by independent monitors as one of the most peaceful in Sri Lanka, but fell short of a majority in the 225-member parliament.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which took 16 seats, will not join the coalition but has promised the new government “issue-based” support.
Sirisena handpicked the 66-year-old Wickremesinghe to lead the government after his surprise election victory over Rajapakse in January.
The former president, who attended Friday’s swearing-in at his former seafront office in Colombo, had hoped to become prime minister himself, but conceded on Tuesday that his dream had “faded away”.
Wickremesinghe is expected to continue to foster closer relations with neighbouring giant India and the West, steering Colombo away from China in a rebalancing of relations.
Parliament will reopen on September 1.