Shaky Ground

Sri Lanka was headed Saturday for a shaky coalition government as no clear winner emerged in parliamentary elections called to settle a power struggle that has set back the islands peace process.rn
The party of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who has accused the incumbent premier of conceding too much to Tamil rebels, said it was prepared to form the next government even if it failed to win a simple majority in the 225-member parliament.rn

rn With a little over half the 10 million ballots counted from Fridays vote, Kumaratungas Freedom Alliance had received 46.4 percent. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes United National Party was trailing with 35.

9 percent. rn

rn The proxies of Tamil Tiger rebels, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), had 7.8 percent of the vote and looked set to be the most crucial factor in deciding the future government in Sri Lanka.

rn

rn "We are emerging the largest single party and we will form the government," Kumaratungas spokesman Harim Peiris told AFP. "That is cl