The PA will continue to work with the JVP to ensure that the government does not take decisions detrimental to national interests in the guise of the peace process, PA MP Mangala Samaraweera said.

Samaraweera said that there was nothing wrong in joining hands with the JVP to protest the way the government has allowed the LTTE to take advantage of the ceasefire agreement. "We will not work only with the LTTE but any yakek (devil)," he said.

He also denied recent newspaper reports that he recently met with London based JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe to discuss co-operation between the two parties. He admitted that some differences exist between the PA and the JVP but that does not mean the two parties cannot cooperate on certain issues.

Messrs Samaraweera and Amunugama also stressed that there will not be a national government. "We have decided not to join the government," Amunugama said adding that the views expressed by MPs, A. H. M. Fowzie and Richard Pathirana in support of a national government were not the position of the PA.

A meeting between President Chandrika Kumaratunga and UNP Chairman Malik Samarawickrema last month fuelled speculation that the two parties were discussing the possibility of forming a national government.

They also defended the section led by Anura Bandaranaike, Dinesh Gunawardene and Ferial Ashraff which has joined the JVP-led campaign against the Norwegian-led peace bid. Both stressed that they would continue the campaign. That does not mean we are against the peace process.