Sri Lankan president looks for coalition partners

The alliance of President Chandrika Kumaratunga emerged as the largest winner in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections, but fell eight seats short of a majority and plans to seek a partner to forge a ruling coalition.

An official with Kumaratunga’s United Peoples Freedom Alliance, which secured 105 seats in the 225-member Parliament, said meetings would be held with smaller parties today and that the alliance considered a ruling coalition a certainty.