With the date for the Sri Lankan Presidential polls finally announced, the favourite, Mahinda Rajapakse, got his campaign off to a flying start this week with a major rally organised by his Sinhala right wing allies.
Flanked by hardline Marxists and Buddhist monks in saffron robes, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister made his election pitch on Tuesday to a sea of red flags, apparently unconcerned by an internal rift within his party.
He told tens of thousands of supporters he would help the poor and seal peace with the Tamil Tigers without giving in to separatist demands, Reuters reported.
“My responsibility is to eradicate poverty ... safeguard the motherland ... and bring peace back to the country,” said Rajapakse, who like his right-of-centre election rival Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP), is campaigning on a ticket of peace and economic prosperity.
Sri Lanka’s Election Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, announced Monday that the Presidential election will be held on November 17, with nominations to close on October 7.
Despite speculation of friction with Chandrika Kumaratunga, outgoing President and leader of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader, Mr. Rajapakse seemed relaxed and upbeat at the rally, laughing with Somawamsa Amarasinghe leader of the ultra-nationalist-cum-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP), the third force in Sinhala politics.
JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa told the rally Mr. Rajapakse would win the biggest victory ever won by any presidential candidate.
JVP Leader Somawansa Amerasinghe said the election on November 17 would be a battle between the camps representing the friends and enemies of the nation.
He said the leader of the enemy camp had been clearly identified as Mr. Wickremesinghe as he would help those who wanted to divide the nation, in reference to the UNP leaders efforts to pursue peace with the LTTE.
“Those who do not want to be part of that sin [dividing the country] and those who oppose Wickremesinghe but dislike voting for Rajapakse should either refrain from voting or destroy their votes. That would be a great service to the nation,” Mr. Amerasinghe was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
Rajapakse, who has signed hardline nationalist agreements with the JVP and the Sinhala-Buddhist monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), must contend with a rift with Kumaratunga, whose family, the Bandaranaikes, have led the SLFP since its founding.
Kumaratunga and her brother, Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike, have both openly criticised Rajapakse’s pacts with the JVP and JHU, saying he had breached party discipline by not seeking prior permission and that the agreements betrayed party ideals.
The JVP has, however allied with the SLFP under Kumaratunga’s leadership, including an fourteen month period from April 2004. The JVP quit in disgust at Kumaratunga’s buckling to international pressure for an aid-sharing deal with the Liberation Tigers.
Despite intense speculation that Kumaratunga, who was away in New York last week for the UN summit, would on her return this week take action against Rajapakse, possibly including his removal as party candidate.
Indeed, as Rajapakse’s campaign began in earnest, Kumaratunga’s camp backed away from a confrontation that seemed inevitable only days ago after the President and her brother slammed the Premier’s electoral alliances.
“There is a distinction in outlook on some conflict resolution parameters. That will be sorted out in the (party) manifesto,” Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris told Reuters this week, playing down the rift and dismissing the prospect that Kumaratunga could revoke Rajapakse’s nomination.
Whilst Mr. Rajapakse has taken a stridently Sinhala nationalist line – one that is already reaping visible benefits – his rival, Wickremesinghe has been trying to avoid alienating Sri Lanka’s minority communities.
It remains very much to be seen whether Mr. Rajapakse’s hardline polices will translate into minority support for him.
LTTE, which will not participate in the voting, does not plan to rally the minority Tamil community for or against either candidate.
“Both have victory as their objective and want to use the conflict of the Tamil people for their advantage - one wants to bash Tamils and get the (majority) Sinhala vote while the other wants to be seen as a moderate and win the minority vote,” LTTE Political Wing head, Mr. S. P. Thamilselvan told Reuters.
“The executive presidency has not helped the Tamil people in the northeast and therefore our interest in the outcome of the election is minimal,” he said.
However, the decision by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lanka’s four largest Tamil parties, not to field a candidate of its own is expected to strengthen Mr. Wickremesinghe against his rival.
As will Thamilselvan’s observation that “our reading is that Mr Rajapakse is entering pacts with groups and people who have professed Tamil bashing openly and have extreme positions when it comes to the peace process.”
Apart from the JVP and JHU, Mr. Rajapakse has secured the support of five more parties in addition to the nine parties who are constituent parties of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), state media claimed this week. The paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) is amongst them.
Intense horse trading is underway with other minority parties, which are expected to announce their positions in the coming days.
The upcountry Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), whose leader, Arumugam Thondaman, had accompanied President Kumaratunga to New York has reportedly drafted a nineteen point agreement that he wants one of the candidates to adopt before he will extend his backing. Apart from ministerial perks for his party officials, Thondaman is also seeking diplomatic postings, political correspondents say.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has said that enter into an agreement to solve problems which are inherent to the Muslim community would get its support. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem says he will back the candidate less likely to yield to the LTTE, suggesting a retreat from Mr. Wickremesinghe.
But Mr. Hakeem also says he is concerned about the self-administrative rights of the Muslim community, appearing to put him at odds with Mr. Rajapakse, whose pact with the JHU dismisses out of hand the notion of powersharing or self rule with minorities.
Although the SLMC is nominally the largest Muslim party it is riven by an internal rebellion, with three out of four MPs reportedly with Rajapakse, as is the National Unity Alliance (NUA), a party which split earlier from the SLMC.
Meanwhile monitors have been invited to attend the polls and comment on whether the elections are free and fair. Election Commissioner Dissanayake has invited the European Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations to send members to monitor the elections.
After announcing the date for the polls, the Elections Commissioner also ordered the police to remove all cutouts, and posters, which are illegal during the campaigning period under Sri Lanka law.
Over 13 million registered voters are eligible to vote in the election to appoint the country’s fifth executive president since the powerful executive presidency was created through the constitution adopted in 1978.
Flanked by hardline Marxists and Buddhist monks in saffron robes, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister made his election pitch on Tuesday to a sea of red flags, apparently unconcerned by an internal rift within his party.
He told tens of thousands of supporters he would help the poor and seal peace with the Tamil Tigers without giving in to separatist demands, Reuters reported.
“My responsibility is to eradicate poverty ... safeguard the motherland ... and bring peace back to the country,” said Rajapakse, who like his right-of-centre election rival Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP), is campaigning on a ticket of peace and economic prosperity.
Sri Lanka’s Election Commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, announced Monday that the Presidential election will be held on November 17, with nominations to close on October 7.
Despite speculation of friction with Chandrika Kumaratunga, outgoing President and leader of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) leader, Mr. Rajapakse seemed relaxed and upbeat at the rally, laughing with Somawamsa Amarasinghe leader of the ultra-nationalist-cum-Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Perumana (JVP), the third force in Sinhala politics.
JVP Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa told the rally Mr. Rajapakse would win the biggest victory ever won by any presidential candidate.
JVP Leader Somawansa Amerasinghe said the election on November 17 would be a battle between the camps representing the friends and enemies of the nation.
He said the leader of the enemy camp had been clearly identified as Mr. Wickremesinghe as he would help those who wanted to divide the nation, in reference to the UNP leaders efforts to pursue peace with the LTTE.
“Those who do not want to be part of that sin [dividing the country] and those who oppose Wickremesinghe but dislike voting for Rajapakse should either refrain from voting or destroy their votes. That would be a great service to the nation,” Mr. Amerasinghe was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
Rajapakse, who has signed hardline nationalist agreements with the JVP and the Sinhala-Buddhist monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), must contend with a rift with Kumaratunga, whose family, the Bandaranaikes, have led the SLFP since its founding.
Kumaratunga and her brother, Foreign Minister Anura Bandaranaike, have both openly criticised Rajapakse’s pacts with the JVP and JHU, saying he had breached party discipline by not seeking prior permission and that the agreements betrayed party ideals.
The JVP has, however allied with the SLFP under Kumaratunga’s leadership, including an fourteen month period from April 2004. The JVP quit in disgust at Kumaratunga’s buckling to international pressure for an aid-sharing deal with the Liberation Tigers.
Despite intense speculation that Kumaratunga, who was away in New York last week for the UN summit, would on her return this week take action against Rajapakse, possibly including his removal as party candidate.
Indeed, as Rajapakse’s campaign began in earnest, Kumaratunga’s camp backed away from a confrontation that seemed inevitable only days ago after the President and her brother slammed the Premier’s electoral alliances.
“There is a distinction in outlook on some conflict resolution parameters. That will be sorted out in the (party) manifesto,” Presidential spokesman Harim Peiris told Reuters this week, playing down the rift and dismissing the prospect that Kumaratunga could revoke Rajapakse’s nomination.
Whilst Mr. Rajapakse has taken a stridently Sinhala nationalist line – one that is already reaping visible benefits – his rival, Wickremesinghe has been trying to avoid alienating Sri Lanka’s minority communities.
It remains very much to be seen whether Mr. Rajapakse’s hardline polices will translate into minority support for him.
LTTE, which will not participate in the voting, does not plan to rally the minority Tamil community for or against either candidate.
“Both have victory as their objective and want to use the conflict of the Tamil people for their advantage - one wants to bash Tamils and get the (majority) Sinhala vote while the other wants to be seen as a moderate and win the minority vote,” LTTE Political Wing head, Mr. S. P. Thamilselvan told Reuters.
“The executive presidency has not helped the Tamil people in the northeast and therefore our interest in the outcome of the election is minimal,” he said.
However, the decision by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Sri Lanka’s four largest Tamil parties, not to field a candidate of its own is expected to strengthen Mr. Wickremesinghe against his rival.
As will Thamilselvan’s observation that “our reading is that Mr Rajapakse is entering pacts with groups and people who have professed Tamil bashing openly and have extreme positions when it comes to the peace process.”
Apart from the JVP and JHU, Mr. Rajapakse has secured the support of five more parties in addition to the nine parties who are constituent parties of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), state media claimed this week. The paramilitary Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) is amongst them.
Intense horse trading is underway with other minority parties, which are expected to announce their positions in the coming days.
The upcountry Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), whose leader, Arumugam Thondaman, had accompanied President Kumaratunga to New York has reportedly drafted a nineteen point agreement that he wants one of the candidates to adopt before he will extend his backing. Apart from ministerial perks for his party officials, Thondaman is also seeking diplomatic postings, political correspondents say.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has said that enter into an agreement to solve problems which are inherent to the Muslim community would get its support. SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem says he will back the candidate less likely to yield to the LTTE, suggesting a retreat from Mr. Wickremesinghe.
But Mr. Hakeem also says he is concerned about the self-administrative rights of the Muslim community, appearing to put him at odds with Mr. Rajapakse, whose pact with the JHU dismisses out of hand the notion of powersharing or self rule with minorities.
Although the SLMC is nominally the largest Muslim party it is riven by an internal rebellion, with three out of four MPs reportedly with Rajapakse, as is the National Unity Alliance (NUA), a party which split earlier from the SLMC.
Meanwhile monitors have been invited to attend the polls and comment on whether the elections are free and fair. Election Commissioner Dissanayake has invited the European Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations to send members to monitor the elections.
After announcing the date for the polls, the Elections Commissioner also ordered the police to remove all cutouts, and posters, which are illegal during the campaigning period under Sri Lanka law.
Over 13 million registered voters are eligible to vote in the election to appoint the country’s fifth executive president since the powerful executive presidency was created through the constitution adopted in 1978.
