Mr. Hisbullah says it is his right to be CM according to the agreement

MLAM Hisbullah told BBC Sandeshaya that the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) will appoint him as the new CM within the next few days.

“I will be appointed as the new Chief Minister as soon as the President comes back from abroad,” he said.

Eight Muslim councillors and six Tamil councillors were appointed in the elections, Mr. Hisbullah said, therefore it is his right to be the new CM according to the agreement reached before the elections.

I will be appointed as the new Chief Minister as soon as the President comes back from abroad MLAM Hisbullah

UPFA General Secretary, Minister Susil Premjayanth last week told journalists that the minority community that gets most of the councillors would be offered the CM post.

However, leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal argues that he should be appointed as CM as he secured the most preferential votes.

Disarming TMVP

Sivanesathurai Chandrakanth alias Pillayan told BBC Tamil Service on Sunday that the Tamil community should also be offered the two bonus councillors.

Mr. Hisbullah says no such agreement was reached within the parties in the alliance.

	TMVP leader says he is 'eligible' to be CM as he secured most preferential votes

“The agreement was on the elected councillors, not about the bonus seats,” he told BBCSinhala.com.

Mr. Chandrakanth (Pillayan), who heads the breakaway LTTE faction in the east, added that the group will keep arms until the “terrorism is defeated”.

But Mr. Hisbullah vowed to disarm all militant groups, irrespective of Tamil or Muslim, in the east.

The former militants including Mr. Pillayan will be offered police protection, Mr. Hisbullah told BBC Sandeshaya.

'Hand over' to Karuna

"I will completely eradicate the armed culture from the east," MLAM Hisbullah said.

The TMVP leader told BBC Tamil Service last week that he will offer the CM post to his leader, Karuna Amman, if he returns to Sri Lanka.

	Pillayan says he will hand over the reign to Karuna if the latter returns

Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan alias Karuna is detained in an immigration detention centre in UK after serving four and half months of a prison sentence for immigration offences.

He is expected to be deported to Sri Lanka as soon as his papers are ready, analysts said.

Pilllayan told BBC’s Swaminathan Natarajan that Karuna is still the leader of the TMVP.