President Kumaratunga lately sounded out an offer of compromise to the premier through the media she controls containing two elements. First, she has agreed to share defence responsibilities with the prime minister; and secondly, she has asked for expanding the negotiating process with LTTE to include a peace advisory committee comprising more parties. The prime minister has rejected the so-called package deal which relents in one area while demanding something in another area. Obviously, it doesn't go far enough with the prime minister riding on a sympathy wave since the sacking of a part of his cabinet in his absence on November 4 which pushed Sri Lanka into a constitutional crisis.

The continuing tussle between the two is giving Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran grounds for asserting that he would invoke the right to self-determination. In fact, he has already warned that the Tamil minority would seek a separate state "if the two leaders of the Sinhalese majority scuttled the peace bid with their bickering". No one in the right frame of mind would like to see the Tamil rebels walk out of the peace process that has not only been internationally acclaimed but had also come to an advanced stage.

Set against the backdrop of unmitigated differences between Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe, the atmosphere is rife with speculations that the parliament may be dissolved after voting on the national budget on December 18. This is likely to be followed by an announcement of a date for mid-term elections.

If the election results meant a renewal of the similar dichotomous relationship between the President and the PM, then what? Basically, the co-habitation negotiations should be given a chance.