SRI LANKA-ELECTION/PREVIEW Sri Lanka polls seen sealing political future of former president Rajapaksa

Record ID: 143872

  • Title: SRI LANKA-ELECTION/PREVIEW Sri Lanka polls seen sealing political future of former president Rajapaksa
  • Date: 15th August 2015
  • Summary: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (AUGUST 14, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** COLOMBO'S MAIN BUSINESS DISTRICT WORLD TRADE CENTRE TWIN TOWERS TRAFFIC ON THE ROAD PARLIAMENT BUILDING SRI LANKAN NATIONAL FLAG FLUTTERING IN FRONT OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (AUGUST 13, 2015) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE OF UNITED NATIONAL PARTY LED BY PRIME MINISTER R
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sri Lanka
  • Country: Sri Lanka
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3ZFEMCLBZEPCL3DJ1VCBPGR8C
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Sri Lanka goes to polls on Monday (August 17) in a general election with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa trying to mount a serious challenge to return to power eight months after his stunning upset in the presidential vote.
    The island nation's 15 million voters will go to the polls to elect the 225-strong parliament. Most seats will be decided in multi-member districts where voters can pick three names from a party list. Results are due on Tuesday. (August 18).
    The main contest is between Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and premier Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) that formed a minority government after Rajapaksa was ousted in January.
    The reformist alliance that rallied to elect President Maithripala Sirisena in January remains intact. Pundits say it should secure a majority and can call on the backing of smaller parties if needed.
    Wickremesinghe has promised to build on the gains of the silent revolution that ended the 11-year-rule of Rajapaksa.
    "This has been a free and fair election which people have not witnessed for a long time, the younger people have not witnessed it during their lifetime. To preserve this freedom and to build a new country, that we seek the vote on August 17," Wickremesinghe told a news conference in Colombo on Thursday (August 13).
    Rajapaksa has ventured out of his southern power base and into Sri Lanka's Buddhist heartland in his bid to regain power.
    He is contesting from the provincial city of Kurunegala where he enjoys a considerable following among the Sinhala-speaking Buddhists who make up more than seven in 10 voters nationwide.
    The capital of Sri Lanka's Northwestern Province also has a concentration of army personnel, veterans and widows of the 26-year civil war. They are natural supporters of Rajapaksa, who crushed ethnic minority Tamil rebels in 2009 and styles himself as a national saviour.
    But many pundits believe that the 69-year-old-strongman's campaign - dogged by allegations of corruption and abuse of power that he denies - is flagging.
    Deprived of his customary control over the state media and security apparatus, Rajapaksa has struggled to build a groundswell of support to back a bid to lead the next government.
    Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Monitoring of Election Violence said that this time the elections were being held in a much more free and fair manner with few incidents of violence and abuse of state machinery.
    He said the elections were being fought to take the gains of the presidential elections to their logical conclusion.
    "If we initiated a programme of governance and anti corruption and transparency, accountability in January, this is all about then getting a parliament that is willing and able to support reinforce it and carry it through. It is also about a parliament that has to face questions like accountability and respect of human rights violations and a whole host of other issues as well. So, it is about unfinished business," Saravanamuttu told Reuters Television.
    Pundits say Wickremesinghe, a protégé of Sirisena, would have the edge in a head-to-head contest for the premiership that Rajapaksa covets to relaunch his career and, opponents say, stay out of legal trouble.
    Minority Tamils and Muslims are broadly sympathetic to the ruling coalition, while Rajapaksa only enjoys a slight lead among Sinhala voters, according to one survey.
    Rajapaksa and two brothers who both held high government office are also battling corruption allegations linked to lucrative Chinese investments.
    However, on the streets of capital Colombo, people were looking beyond the personality cults and seeking sound economic policies from the winning candidate.
    Pratibhai Himalshah, a Colombo University student, said: "I only care about who works the most for the votes they get. Whoever gets elected, I think they should pay people back what they owe, I mean they should work."
    Another Colombo resident, Naushad Alavi added that the country needed to move forward on the twin planks of peace and development. "Development is an issue, development and peace in this country."
    Rajapaksa is also under investigation for suspected misuse and misappropriation of public funds, while his brothers are fighting corruption charges. He denies wrongdoing.
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