by Namini Wijedasa
Anura Bandaranaike last week claimed that negotiations to forge a JVP-SLFP alliance had been "catching on really well" until his sister started upsetting the Marxists.

Bandaranaike also said that the SLFP couldn’t win an election without the JVP.

"The talks were very slow in the beginning," Bandaranaike said in an interview with the Sunday Island. "But after a series of meetings around the country, the idea started catching on extremely well."

"Then the president began to upset the JVP," he declared. "I was not involved in that... I must categorically say that I was not involved."

Bandaranaike—who had enthusiastically promoted a JVP-SLFP alliance as the latter’s sole remaining lifeline—admitted that President Chandrika Kumaratunga and he now had strong differences over how the negotiations had ended two weeks ago.

"We have strong differing opinions on this," he said. "The alliance should have been formed. I think she should have been able to form it." But he did not oppose her stand on devolution of power—the most contentious issue between the two parties.

He stressed, however, that this did not in any way affect his personal relationship with Chandrika.

"Politics and personal differences should not be entangled in any way," he elaborated. "My affection for her remains."

Bandaranaike reiterated that the JVP and SLFP needed each other.

"The bottom line is that we can’t win in an election without them and they can’t win without us," he stressed. He admitted, however, that "it’s more we can’t win without them."

There had been enormous crowds at the SLFP’s 52nd convention in Kurunegala two weeks ago, Bandaranaike continued. Part of the reason for such heavy participation was that people believed the JVP/SLFP alliance would succeed.

"If we now organised a similar meeting in Colombo today, we won’t get half the crowd," he said. "I don’t know about them (JVP), but we (SLFP) certainly won’t."

Bandaranaike—who did not personally participate in the alliance negotiations led by Mangala Samaraweera—said there had been three points of contention between the two sides. They were devolution of power, role of the Norwegians and positions in the alliance. The most serious was devolution, he said. The president could see no alternative to devolution; the JVP opposed it but could not suggest an alternative.

Although disagreement over vital issues finally derailed the talks, Bandaranaike also claimed that "a lot of interested parties... wanted to break the alliance from the word go."

Bandaranaike claimed at a public rally after the failure of JVP/SLFP talks that members of his own party had been paid to derail the process. However, he declined to name them.