A large number of soldiers and their families will also vote for the general. The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, which acted as the mouthpiece of the LTTE during the war and which now claims to support an united and undivided Sri Lanka, has also extended support for Fonseka. UNP supporters, who backed Rajapaksa during the war, have come back to the party. The former army chief is being supported by the main opposition UNP, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the Democratic People's Front, which represents Colombo Tamils, and a number of small parties. Image: Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka holds up a copy of his election manifesto Photographs: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ReutersĪ similar claim is being made by supporters of Fonseka. They claim that this vote bank is intact and point to the huge crowds that turn out to attend Rajapaksa's rallies. In the elections to the provincial councils held during the last stages of the war and after the war show, say the president's supporters, Rajapaksa had 60 to 70 per cent of the people's vote. He won that election thanks to a boycott call by the LTTE - a move that denied United National Party candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe the presidency. They point out that Rajapaksa won the last presidential election in 2005 by only a narrow margin. They rubbish surveys that point to a victory for the general and claim that according to government surveys, Rajapaksa will be the winner.īut opposition analysts have a different story. He could even pip the president at the post, many analysts predict.īut the president's supporters claim that Rajapaksa will win with a thumping majority. His rival, the war-winning army commander, General Sarath Fonseka, has come from behind and is peaking now. With only a few days to go for the election, indications are that the president may even lose. Image: Children dressed like President Mahinda Rajapaksa stand in front of a poster of him at a political rally in Colombo Photographs: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reutersīut eight months after that great victory, there appears to be some erosion in his support base. People stomached the price hikes and told the president to pursue the war to the end even if they were starved to death. When the cost of living escalated and the government was even unable to pass the benefit of the oil price slump to the public, there was nary a complaint. The Rajapaksa administration was accused of being complicit in abductions, extra-judicial killings and the suppression of the media, but the majority of the people did not protest. Rajapaksa's opponents say that people also want to see an end to nepotism, family rule, corruption and waste.ĭemocracy and welfare State, like truth, were casualties of the war. There is a craving for democracy along with all its features - good governance, respect for human rights, a strong parliament and transparency. Not many people would like to see him as a king, though they may want to see him as their president. 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.īut the situation today is quite different. The song was hurriedly filmed by his cronies weeks before the final victory.
In fact, State-run television channels and radio stations regularly played a song that hailed him as the great king who united the country. Some even called him Maha Rajanani (the great king). 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. 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.
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. 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