I committed 'three' mistakes as Lanka prez: Kumaratunga

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said she has committed "three" mistakes during her nine-year reign, including dismissal of UNP-led government in 2004.

Kumaratunga said she realised that an alliance with the Marxist JVP party was a mistake she committed while at the helm of affairs in the country.

Similarly, she said, the UNP-led government of Ranil Wickremesinghe should not have been dismissed in 2004.

The 62-year-old former President said she would reveal the third mistake she committed sometime in the future.

In an interview to a Sinhala weekly, Kumaratunga said her party the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and the opposition United National Party should forge an alliance to resolve the 25-year-old Tamil ethnic conflict.

"I think the SLFP and UNP should come together and work out a common understanding to find a solution to resolve the conflict in the country," she said.

She also made it clear that neither she nor her sister Sumitra would enter active politics.

Their brother and former Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike died recently raising questions about the future representatives of the legendary Bandaranaike family in politics.

Fifty nine-year-old Anura, son of Prime Ministers S W R D Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike was at one time considered a forerunner for the country's top post.

Source: indiatimes.com