Sri Lankans : Sri Lankans began voting on Thursday in a tightly fought presidential election, with incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse seeking a record third term in office amid a flurry of defections and criticism over his authoritarian rule.
69-year-old Rajapaksa’s decision to call early elections in the hope of an easy victory over a fragmented opposition now appears a tough task with a broad coalition of parties rallying behind his former associate turned rival, Maithripala Sirisena.
Rajapaksa had called the election two years ahead of schedule, hoping to win a record third six-year term before the defeat of the Tamil Tigers fades in the memory of the people of the island which saw a three decades war over the demand of a separate Tamil Eelam.
The veteran politician was taken by surprise by the candidacy of former health minister, Sirisena, 63, who walked out of the government a day after polls were called. That set off a wave of political turmoil and energised a long-dispirited opposition that had not been looking forward to the election.
The biggest Tamil political grouping has endorsed Sirisena’s candidacy. Muslim parties concerned by rising violence from a range of hardline Buddhist groups which have emerged in recent years have also joined the opposition.
The opposition campaign accuses Rajapaksa of nepotism, misrule, corruption and authoritarianism. Rajapaksa’s brothers – Gotabhaya and Basil – are defence and economic ministers respectively besides a number of his family members who are holding key posts and positions.
Sirisena backed by the main opposition United National Party and another key breakaway group the JHU or the Buddhist Monk party has plans for a series of constitutional and democratic reforms. Counting of the votes would begin soon the after the voting ends and the first results are expected after midnight tomorrow.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply