The United National Party (UNP) has been transparent and consistent in its approach to peace. The President and the government can be assured of the unstinted support of the UNP. There may be ideological differences among the constituent partners of the government, which they must solve. said Deputy Leader of the UNP Karu Jayasuriya at a media briefing held yesterday.

He said two major problems face the country.

The first is a reported attempt to use the 2004 electoral register for the local government elections in March this year. It was used for the Presidential election in November 2005 and was found to be faulty. The UNP requests the President to postpone the local government elections by 90 days, till June 06 so that the updated electoral register could be used instead.

The UNP would remind the President that consensus had been established between the main opposition party and the government. Does the President want to continue with this situation or negate it by continuing with the 2004 electoral register. The UNP will resort to legal action , this week, to prevent the use of the 2004 register, he added.

The government has got into a serious problem by way of putting the country into a huge foreign currency debt, said UNP Parliamentarian Bandula Gunawardhane. In addition to borrowing US $ 100 million through the Bank of Ceylon, it has borrowed funds on commercial terms at LIBOR + 1.62, 1.72 and 1.85 on three occasions, totalling US $ 250 million. A senior official of the Treasury has stated that the government is considering borrowing US one billion, the highest ever loan obtained for the country, on commercial terms.