Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) handed over Wednesday a mass petition calling on the country's elections chief to hold the next presidential election by the end of 2005.
 
The UNP's deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya visited the elections commission office and met Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake to hand over the petition signed by a million voters.

The UNP on Aug. 8 dispatched the mass petition to four different directions of the island in order to collect public signatures to urge the election.

The government and the UNP are embroiled in a long debate over the date for the next presidential election.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga's party stresses that Kumaratunga's second term as president ends only in 2006 and an election will fall due only then.

The all Buddhist monk party JHU, or the Heritage Party, has filed an action in the Supreme Court calling for the election to be held this year.

The court ruling is expected to be delivered on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2005)