Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga sought a Supreme Court interpretation on the date of the next presidential election, the official Daily News reported Wednesday.

Kumaratunga made this request on Tuesday in the context of the present controversy surrounding the issue, with both 2005 and 2006 being cited as possible presidential election dates.

The government has maintained that the presidential election should be held next year according to the provisions of the Constitution while the main opposition United National Party (UNP) says the poll should be held this year.

The Supreme Court is the supreme authority on the Constitution. The President is empowered to seek its opinion when conflicting interpretations are offered by various quarters on matters related to the Constitution.

The government said that Kumaratunga cited a secret oath taking ceremony held in the year 2000 which empowers her to hold the post until 2006.

Meanwhile, the government also maintains that it falls due only in 2006, 12 years from 1994, the year in which Kumaratunga was first elected to office.

However, the UNP maintains that the next presidential election must be held by December this year, six years since the last presidential election held in December 1999.

The President has sought its rulings on several previous occasions including her takeover of the Defence Ministry, which the Supreme Court determined that the subject of defence cannot be relegated to another person.

The government last week announced its presidential candidate, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.

The UNP has announced it's Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as its presidential candidate. No other party has named candidates so far.

Sri Lanka's first election for the Executive Presidency was held in 1982 and the next in 1988. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga recorded a landslide victory at the 1994 presidential election.

Source: Xinhua