Presidential Poll 2005

The Hindu editorial: On to elections

At least one uncertainty has ended for Sri Lanka with the country's Supreme Court ruling that the Presidential Elections must be held this year, said The Hindu in an editorial yesterday.

It said: "The duration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's second and final term in office - she was re-elected in 1999 - has been a subject of political controversy.

With the constitutional provisions on the subject ambiguous, the Opposition was gearing for a showdown with President Kumaratunga on the possibility that she would call the next election in 2006, relying on a highly debatable interpretation of the constitutional and practical circumstances.

The ruling has dissipated the brewing political storm. Even before the verdict, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the United National Party went into election mode.

The SLFP recently named Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as its presidential candidate against the UNP's Ranil Wickremesinghe. The two nominees seem well matched but several questions remain.

Will the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, which recently quit the ruling coalition, throw its weight behind Rajapakse? The JVP is a strong force among the Sinhala majority and its support will be crucial to the SLFP candidate's prospects at the election. But then, will it affect his carrying forward President Kumaratunga's torch of a federal solution to the Tamil question, given that the JVP is for a unitary state ? Will the slow pace of post-tsunami reconstruction help Wickremesinghe ?

How will the anger of Sri Lanka's Muslims at their perceived exclusion from the peace process and the post-tsunami reconstruction efforts affect the vote ?

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will no doubt play its baneful part. It pretends detachment from elections in order to emphasise separateness from Sri Lanka, but in truth, it has sought to influence the result of every electoral contest thus far through intimidation of voters and vote-fixing, assassination of candidates, and putting up proxy candidates. In the 1999 presidential contest, the LTTE openly backed Wickremesinghe, swinging the vote in his favour in the North and parts of the East. It almost succeeded in assassinating President Kumaratunga.

Whatever the LTTE decides to do this time, the Norwegian-brokered peace process will not come off the back-burner until a new President takes office. The 2005 Presidential Election comes at a time of heightened tension and uncertainty, following the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar.

The factional feud within the LTTE has turned Eastern Sri Lanka into a virtual battlefield. Against such a backdrop, the Elections Commissioner alone may not be able to ensure free, fair, and peaceful Presidential Elections.

With the credibility of Norway, the facilitator of the peace process in tatters, it is imperative that the international community show zero tolerance for the LTTE's Pol Potism and terrorism that make a mockery of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement.

PM urges all progressive forces to join him

by Rohan Mathes

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse urges all progressive forces, inclusive of the JVP to close ranks with him to develop the country in our own unique way and also to protect its inherent heritage and culture.

Speaking at a rally held in Karandeniya on Sunday, Rajapakse said that the time has come for us to embark on a new journey with a new vision.

"We should ensure that all communities from Dondra Head to Point Pedro, irrespective of their ethnicities, caste, creed and faiths, should be able to live in peace and harmony sans fear nor suspicion." The Government led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga is accepting with due respect, the decision of the Supreme Court for holding the Presidential election in 2005.

There were differing interpretations of the Presidential election date. President Kumaratunga sought the interpretation of the court. The Jathika Hela Urumaya also took the same course.

However, the Ranil Wickremasinghe led UNP is deceiving the masses by saying that the decision was influenced by the 'Janabala Meheyuma'. This is a fallacy.

"The UNP violated the fundamental human rights of the people, and we exposed them to the international community in Geneva. We engaged in 'Pada Yathra', 'Jana Gosha', 'Human Chains' not for personal gain. He pointed out that Sri Lanka is not America, England or Europe to sell State institutions such as the Paddy Marketing Board and the CWE, and weaken the state sector. The state and the private sectors should be developed simultaneously.

2005 slogan has boomeranged on UNP - Mangala

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga deserves the credit for seeking the intervention of the Supreme Court on deciding the Presidential poll date, despite the UNP's attempts to project it as one of their achievements, Minister Mangala Samaraweera, the Chief Campaign Coordinator of the SLFP, stated yesterday.

In a news release, Minister Samaraweera said President Kumaratunga took the initiative of seeking the Supreme Court's opinion on this matter as there were conflicting views. No other party had done so until she took this step.

"The UNP which is attempting portray the Supreme Court decision as a culmination of its struggle to hold the Presidential Poll in 2005, never went to Court on this issue even though it collected fictitious names for a petition," the Minister said.

He pointed out that President Kumaratunga has humbly accepted the Supreme Court verdict unlike some leaders who denigrated the judiciary when verdicts were given against them or their parties.

He said the SLFP will receive her guidance as its leader even when she is no longer the President. She took steps to name Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as the Presidential candidate. She never feared elections and always held them on time. Under her guidance, the SLFP has the strength to achieve victory at the Presidential Election. No political force will be able to stop this.

"The UNP brought up the 2005 slogan to extricate itself out of the political wilderness.

There was no real hope of having the election this year. Thus they have fallen from the frying pan to the fire after court verdict," the statement said.

JHU meets PM

by Rohan Mathes

Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) is to confirm their support to SLFP Presidential Candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse after meeting Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe as well, sources close to the Prime Minister said.

The JHU high level delegation led by Ven. Ellawela Medhananda Thera and comprising Ven. Athuraliye Ratana Thera, Ven. Rajawatte Wappa Thera, Ven. Nagaha Amarawansa Thera, Udaya Gammanpila and S. Kotakadeniya met the Government delegation with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse presiding and comprising Ministers Maithripala Sirisena, Vishwa Warnapala and Rohitha Bogollagama and MP Wijedasa Rajapakse at Temple trees yesterday afternoon. Their decision will be notified in due course, the sources said.