UNP leader says Govt. is trying to divert attention on increasing CoL

Opposition and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickramasinghe also accused the media of involving with the government in the plot.

"As the price of a loaf of bread increases, the media and the government destroy three LTTE boats daily," he told journalists in Colombo.

"Mahinda-LTTE deal"

"If the LTTE is defeated in this scale, there would be no LTTE boats left when the CoL increases a couple of times," Wickramasinghe added.

The main opposition and the breakaway faction of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are planning to stage a protest campaign against the ever increasing CoL.

Mangala Samaraweera says he stands by his statement in the parliament which said President's Rajapaksa's administration paid money to LTTE

Wickramasinghe added that the newly formed the National Council (Jathika Sabha) will be discussing joining with other political parties and other campaign groups.

"We are also having discussions with some parliamentarians in the government," he said.

"Amend" CFA

Leader of the SLFP (m), Manglala Samaraweera, meanwhile, reiterated his accusation that President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration offered money to LTTE to enforce a boycott by the Tamil voters.

Head of LTTE's political wing, SP Thamilselvan, has told the media that they did not accept money from the Rajapaksa administration.

	UNP says CFA signed needs to be amended to suit current situation

He has however accepted that, President's younger brother, newly appointed parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa, met an LTTE team in Wanni prior to the 2005 November presidential elections, according to media reports.

"I stand by what I said in the parliament. I said on record that they gave money and Basil Rajapaksa, MP, denied that and that is why we called for a parliamentary select committee," Samaraweera told journalists.

The UNP has also decided that the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) signed with the Tamil Tigers in 2002 needs to be amended to suit the current political atmosphere.

Wicramasinghe, the then Prime Minister, came under heavy criticism by the Sinhala nationalist parties for signing the Norwegian brokered CFA on 22 February 2002.