SRI LANKA-ELECTION/RAJAPAKSA-FILE Sri Lanka's defeated Rajapaksa to contest Aug. 17 poll

Record ID: 143993

  • Title: SRI LANKA-ELECTION/RAJAPAKSA-FILE Sri Lanka's defeated Rajapaksa to contest Aug. 17 poll
  • Date: 14th August 2015
  • Summary: COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 17, 2014) (REUTERS) CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING WALKING WITH RAJAPAKSA RAJAPAKSA AND XI WALKING AND SHAKING HANDS XI AND RAJAPAKSA STANDING VARIOUS OF WATER BEING SPRAYED
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1UPD3E5IL09762S6SGZVAMFUD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
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    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
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    Sri Lanka's former war-time president Mahinda Rajapaksa will be contesting in the August 17 general election, becoming the country's first defeated leader to seek a legislative seat.
    The latest national opinion poll shows he is trailing his main rival Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the once-powerful leader struggles to mount a strong campaign to become prime minister.
    Nearly 40 percent of voters surveyed at the end of the last month said Wickremesinghe was the best man for the job and only 27.5 percent chose Rajapaksa, the Center for Policy Analysis, which conducted the poll, said.
    Ousted by former ally current President Maithripala Sirisena in a presidential election in January, Rajapaksa is seeking to turn the tables at the Aug. 17 parliamentary polls.
    His defeat cost him the leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the then ruling coalition, the United Peoples' Freedom Alliance (UPFA), as some lawmakers switched loyalty to the new president.
    He is also being dogged by allegations of abuse of power and sleaze. Rajapaksa's rivals say he is seeking parliamentary privileges to protect himself from charges of corruption, but Rajapaksa denies such claims.
    His party has also said his campaign has also been hobbled by a lack of security for a leader who crushed a 26-year insurgency by ethnic Tamil rebels in 2009, which won him a support among majority Sinhalese but has made him unpopular among Tamils.
    The parliamentary election nevertheless comes after months of deadlock in the legislature, as the six-month-old coalition government cobbled together by Sirisena and Wickremesinghe has struggled to pass key political reforms.
    Sirisena has faced opposition from members of his own Sri Lanka Freedom Party, who remain loyal to Rajapaksa, while electoral reforms have been opposed by his main ruling coalition partner, the United National Party (UNP).
    Rajapaksa remains a divisive figure in the multi-ethnic island nation of 21 million people that is still healing from extensive rights violations in the final stages of the civil war.
    A U.N. human rights report on the war in the north is due for release soon after the election. The United Nations estimated in 2011 that up to 40,000 civilians died in the final army assault on the separatist rebels.
    Rajapaksa's government denied abuses.
    President Sirisena, who promised fresh elections in 2015 on becoming president, has criticised Rajapaksa's comeback bid and said he allowed him to run in the general election to avert a split in their Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
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