SMH – A democracy in doubt
by Matt Wade
Whoever wins next week’s election, the military will have the upper hand, Matt Wade writes from Colombo.
A helicopter overhead announced that the President had arrived. A packed stadium at Homagama, in south-western Sri Lanka, erupted as Mahinda Rajapaksa did a fly-past before landing.
Dressed in his trademark white tunic, sarong and red scarf, he was soon on the dais, ready to open the sports ground – named, of course, after himself.
With presidential elections next week, the inauguration of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Sports Complex on Thursday was a tailor-made campaign event. More
SMH – Sri Lankan poll my be decided by Tamil vote
by Matt Wade
THE chopper overhead announced that the President had arrived. A packed stadium at Homagama in south-western Sri Lanka erupted as the country’s supremo, Mahinda Rajapaksa, did a flypast before landing.
Dressed in his trademark white tunic, sarong and red scarf, he was soon on the dais ready to open the new sports ground – named after himself.
With presidential elections next Tuesday, Thursday’s inauguration of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Sports Complex was a tailor-made campaign event. More
SMH – Sri Lankan general woos Tamils in election challenge to President
by Matt Wade
Two months ago, Sarath Fonseka commanded one of the world’s most experienced armies. Now he is giving the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a run for the top civilian post.
General Fonseka, 59, the former chief of the army, seems to have made this rapid transformation from military leader to presidential candidate with ease. His popularity among the urban middle class was on show at a political rally in Colombo on Wednesday night.
Two large portraits of the general flanked the stage: in one he was dressed in full uniform, in the other he wore a traditional white tunic buttoned to the neck. More
Asian Times – The gloves are off in Sri Lanka’s election
by Sudha Ramachandran
With Sri Lankans going to the polls on January 26 to elect their next president, there is considerable apprehension that polling will be neither free nor fair. The run-up to polling day has been violent, with five people killed in poll-related violence and scores injured.
The election monitoring group, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, has recorded 382 confirmed instances of violation of election laws between November 17, when candidates filed nominations, and January 20.
Supporters of the ruling party and the opposition are “aggressively moving towards a violent election”, a spokesperson of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections told the BBC. “The remainder of the election campaign and the presidential election itself will not be conducted according to the legal procedures and limitations established by the constitution and the law,” the Colombo-based Center for Policy Analysis has warned. More
The Economist (21/01) – Between a rock and a hard man
Both candidates are ignoring what should be their priority: national reconciliation
THE presidential election in Sri Lanka on January 26th should have been a cakewalk for the incumbent. Last May, when his government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, bringing an end to a bloody 26-year insurgency, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s popularity among the island’s Sinhalese majority knew no bounds. As for the Tamil minority, thwarted of the independent homeland for which the Tigers had been fighting, it was, at just 12% of the 21m population, too small to sway an election. Yet, as an ugly and at times violent election season nears its end, the outcome is now on a knife-edge. Despite the advantages of incumbency—such as fawning state-controlled media—the main challenger, Sarath Fonseka, might yet sneak home. Whoever wins, the prospects for a decent settlement for the Tamils, most of whom shunned the Tigers but nurture legitimate grievances, seem remote. More
The Economist (21/01) - Next year in Jaffna
Tamil émigrés follow the election campaign with jaundiced eyes
IN THE dingy back office of a Sri Lankan grocery shop in Harrow, north-west London, sales assistants pore over a Tamil newspaper, while a customer says he is going home to follow events on the internet. Having watched from afar as the Sri Lankan army crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009, British Tamils are again transfixed by a campaign on the island—this time for an election. On January 26th the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, will seek to capitalise on his military victory at a presidential poll called nearly two years earlier than it need have been.
The news, however, has been mostly grim for the 1m or so members of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. Most supported the rebels and the independent state for which they battled. As the Tigers were defeated, thousands of Tamils were killed. Now, the choice is between two candidates: Mr Rajapaksa, who launched the final bloody phase of the war; and Sarath Fonseka, who led the army that waged it.
For Tamils that constitutes a dispiriting contest. Both candidates are Sinhalese nationalists; neither seems likely to hurry towards the national reconciliation they have promised. But with the Sinhalese vote apparently closely split between Mr Rajapaksa and Mr Fonseka, Tamils, who constitute only 12% of the population, may have the deciding say. In Sri Lanka the Tamil National Alliance, once seen as a proxy for the Tigers, has announced its backing for Mr Fonseka, as the only way to thwart Mr Rajapaksa. Many Tamil émigrés say they grudgingly support that decision. Without votes, however, they can do little to sway the outcome. More
Associated Press (21/01) – Media Group sees bias in Sri Lanka poll coverage
A media rights group has accused Sri Lanka’s president of using government resources for his election campaign.
Reporters Without Borders said Thursday the main challenger to President Mahinda Rajapaksa is getting almost no air time in state media. It also said the telecoms regulator ordered mobile phone operators to issue a text message on behalf of the president.
Rajapaksa’s main challenger in the Jan. 26 election is former army chief Sarath Fonseka.
Both men are at the height of their popularity for ending the 25-year civil war last May against the Tamil Tigers. They are locked in a bitter and close election race.
A spokesman for Rajapaksa said the group’s statement went beyond its mandate and was not worth responding to.
BBC (21/01) – Shattered Tamil city braces for crucial poll
by Charles Haviland
The fishing boats seem to chase each other out in the lagoon. A flock of seabirds rises, glorious against the blue sky.
Calm has returned to Jaffna’s waters after decades of turbulence.
It is still a tense peace. The bay where they repair their boats is cordoned off, guarded by the military. Parts of the shore are lined with razor-wire.
But as the vessels crowd into the wharf by the fish market, there is a real buzz in the air.
The men weigh their crabs and cuttlefish, hack the big meaty fish into steaks, bargaining, bartering.
A young fisherman tells the BBC he is delighted with peace in the north. Restrictions have been lifted, he says: they can sail to more places; export their fish abroad; find more markets at home, too.
And he is enthusiastic about the 26 January election.
The two main candidates, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the former army chief (and former northern commander), General Sarath Fonseka, are both widely viewed as hardline advocates for the island’s Sinhalese ethnic majority – people instrumental in vanquishing many Tamils’ desire for an autonomous homeland. More
MyNews – Sri Lanka: Democracy and truth were casualties of war
by Ameen Izzadeen
Sri Lanka-based senior journalist Ameen Izzadeen reports on Sri Lanka’s presidential battle, slated for January 26, in which the incumbent faces off a popular war hero.
In November 2009, when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa officially declared his intention to seek a fresh mandate for another six-year term, he was getting ready for a one-horse race. A month and a half later, he is getting ready to fight his toughest political battle, which is being described as a neck-to-neck affair, after former army chief General Sarath Fonseka joined the presidential race.
Soon after the military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May last year, jubilant supporters predicted that Rajapaksa would remain the president of the island country for life. Some even called him Maha Rajanani (the great king). In fact, State-run television channels and radio stations regularly played a song that hailed him as the great king who united the country. The song was hurriedly filmed by his cronies weeks before the final victory. Rajapaksa basked in the glory of the victory and did not care to tell those who tried to make him a king that it was unconstitutional. More
