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7 January 2015 Last updated at 16:03
Sri Lanka's Maithripala Sirisena seeks to topple Rajapaksa
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Sri Lanka on edge as voting ends in tight presidential election
COLOMBO
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08 Jan 2015
It’s Rajapaksa vs. anti-incumbency
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08 Jan 2015
From Forbes to The Hindu: International Press Covers Sri Lankan Presidential Election
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08 Jan 2015
Ahead of Sri Lanka election, president in unexpectedly tight race
Mahinda Rajapaksa was predicted to easily win re-election, but he is facing a mass defection from his own party
08 Jan 2015
Sri Lanka Counts Votes With President Against Former Ally
Sri Lanka began counting votes in an election that may prove surprisingly close and will either extend President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decade-long rule or hand power to a former ally.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-07/battle-for-sri-lanka-power-pits-president-against-former-friend.html
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Press releases - Amnesty International
7 January 2015
Sri Lanka: Death threats against activists highlight risk of violence around elections
Sri Lankan authorities must hold to account those who threatened three prominent activists with death today and ensure that tomorrow’s presidential elections passes without further violence, Amnesty International said.
Opposition campaigners Brito Fernando, Phillip Dissanayake and Prasanga Fernando – who are all well-known human rights defenders active with families of the “disappeared” – today received phone calls from unknown people who threatened them with death. Prasanga Fernando was told the three should “make your funeral arrangements at your homes”.
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WORLD/SRI LANKA: Death threats issues to three human rights activists
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-005-2015
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08 jan 2015
Reports of Army Deployment in Sri Lanka Investigated Ahead of Election
By DHARISHA BASTIANS
JANUARY 7, 2015
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Sri Lankan election authorities are investigating reports that the military has troops standing by, ready to deploy during the presidential election Thursday, the country’s election commissioner said on Wednesday.
The commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, told reporters at a news conference that he had received complaints about the deployment of troops in the former conflict zones in the north and east of the country. A heavy army presence there could discourage voter turnout in areas dominated by ethnic Tamils, who are less likely than members of the Sinhalese majority to support the incumbent, PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa..................
Sri Lanka presidential election brings country to crossroads
COLOMBO
(Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged voters to back "the devil they know," and hand him a third term when they go to the polls on Thursday, rather than an "unknown angel" who promises to root out corruption and political decay.There have been no reliable opinion polls ahead of the vote, but many believe opposition candidate Mithripala Sirisena will quash Rajapaksa's bid for re-election and change the country's direction.Despite waning popularity, Rajapaksa called the election two years early, confident that the perennially fractured opposition would fail to come up with a credible challenger.
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08 Jan 2015
In Sri Lanka, Opposition On Track To Win Elections In The Midst Of Violence
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As Sri Lanka gears for presidential elections later this week on Thursday, there has been an increase in incidents of violence, amidst predictions of a win for the opposition.
Assailants shot and wounded three opposition supporters who were preparing a stage for Maithripala Sirisena, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s chief rival, on Monday, the final day of campaigning in Sri Lanka’s election, according to a media report.
Reports emerge of violence, commando deployment ahead of Sri Lanka presidential election
Updated 8 January 2015, 5:55 AEDT
Sri Lankan police have denied turning a blind eye to repeat violations of election laws by government supporters in the lead-up to Thursday's presidential election.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa called the snap election a few months ago, two years ahead of schedule.
Seeking an unprecedented third term in office, he was widely seen as the clear favourite until his former health minister Maithripala Sirisena mounted a surprise challenge in November.
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8 January 2015 Last updated at 10:50
Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa faces crucial poll
Millions of Sri Lankans have voted in an unexpectedly close election that pits President Mahinda Rajapaksa against one of his former allies.
Mr Rajapaksa, in office since 2005, called the election two years early with analysts predicting an easy win. But many voters have since rallied behind the challenger, former health minister Maithripala Sirisena. There were armed policemen at every polling station because of concerns the vote would not be peaceful and free................
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08 Jan 2015
Sri Lanka votes: President Mahinda Rajapaksa fights for his political life
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/sri-lanka-votes-president-mahinda-rajapaksa-fights-for-his-political-life-20150107-12iqe5.html................................................................................................................................................
08 Jan 2015
Sri Lanka on tenterhooks as election nears |
Divided nation prepares to choose a president amid ruling party defections, war animosity, and corruption allegations.
Dinouk ColombageLast updated: 06 Jan 2015 11:05
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http://www.channel4.com/news/sri-lanka-presidential-election-rajapaksa-sirisena-tamil
Sri Lanka's election could change everything... and nothing
On Thursday, Sri Lanka goes to the polls in an extraordinary presidential election which could change everything but, perversely, change nothing, writes Callum Macrae.
http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/Policy-Politics/Imperial-Rajapaksa-finds-his-throne-at-risk?n_cid=NARAN012
January 7, 2015 1:00 pm JST
Sri Lanka's presidential vote
'Imperial' Rajapaksa finds his throne at risk
MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR, Contributing writer
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http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/will-sri-lanka-elect-devil-knows
JANUARY 6, 2015
Will Sri Lanka Elect the Devil It Knows?
BY SAMANTH SUBRAMANIAN
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07 Jan 2015
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/06/sri-lanka-election-closest-most-significant-decades
Sri Lanka election set to be closest and most significant in decades
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is seeking third term as president, faces coalition of parties rallying behind former ally
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07 Jan 2015
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/zY8YE7K7E5ozI8WFeMqIcK/Mahinda-Rajapaksas-future-in-the-balance-as-Sri-Lanka-goes.html
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s future in the balance as Sri Lanka goes to polls
Seeking polls 2 years before the end of his term, a decisive Rajapaksa victory was on the cards — until the opposition came up with a common candidate, Maithripala Sirisena
Venkat Ananth
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07 Jan 2015
https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/25925078/sri-lanka-election-chief-probes-army-deployment-claims/
Sri Lanka election chief probes army deployment claims
Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's election commission said Wednesday it is investigating claims that troops are being deployed in the Tamil-dominated north before a closely-fought presidential vote that has already been marred by violence.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/05/us-sri-lanka-politics-sirisena-idUSKBN0KE04J20150105
(Reuters)- Friend turned foe - the challenger for Sri Lanka's presidency
Friend turned foe - the challenger for Sri Lanka's presidency
BY SHIHAR ANEEZ
COLOMBO Sun Jan 4, 2015 9:34pm EST
(Reuters) - Over a dinner of rice-flour pancakes with his trusted health minister one evening in November, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed with a grin that there would be no serious candidate to challenge him in the coming presidential election.
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BY SHIHAR ANEEZ
COLOMBO Sun Jan 4, 2015 9:34pm EST
(Reuters) - Over a dinner of rice-flour pancakes with his trusted health minister one evening in November, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa observed with a grin that there would be no serious candidate to challenge him in the coming presidential election.
Little did Rajapaksa know then that the man who would stand in his way of winning an unprecedented third term as president of this Indian Ocean island nation was right beside him.
"When he said that nobody was going to challenge him, I was next to him and felt sorry for him," Mithripala Sirisena later told a campaign meeting on his decision to turn on the president and run as the opposition's common candidate in Thursday's poll.
"I came out because I could not stay anymore with a leader who had plundered the country, government and national wealth."
06 Jan 2015
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/in-sri-lankas-northern-province-an-antirajapaksa-wave/article6757641.ece
The Hindu - In Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, an anti-Rajapaksa wave
MEERA SRINIVASAN
Rajapaksa has failed in post-war reconciliation, Tamils feel. However, many of them don’t see this as ‘their election’ and can’t see how their lives will change after the polls
After Sri Lanka’s brutal war ended five years ago, President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the Tamil majority North better roads, rail connections and electricity. However, people of the Northern Province believe he has not given anything by way of the much-awaited post-war reconciliation that will make them vote for him.
Despite trying hard to recover from the trauma of the war, the island’s Northern Tamils are constantly weighed down by concerns over heavy militarisation, land grab by the army and the absence of livelihood opportunities that could potentially revitalise the economy in the former war zone.
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The Hindu - Colombo opposition takes anti-China stand
Rajapaksa has failed in post-war reconciliation, Tamils feel. However, many of them don’t see this as ‘their election’ and can’t see how their lives will change after the polls
After Sri Lanka’s brutal war ended five years ago, President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the Tamil majority North better roads, rail connections and electricity. However, people of the Northern Province believe he has not given anything by way of the much-awaited post-war reconciliation that will make them vote for him.
Despite trying hard to recover from the trauma of the war, the island’s Northern Tamils are constantly weighed down by concerns over heavy militarisation, land grab by the army and the absence of livelihood opportunities that could potentially revitalise the economy in the former war zone.
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The Hindu - Colombo opposition takes anti-China stand
01 Jan 2015
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has pledged to scrap the $1.34-billion Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project, citing threats to the environment. Photo:AP
T his is a crude attempt to secure New Delhi’s support, says former diplomat
Amidst concern in India over the growing Chinese presence in Sri Lanka, the joint opposition platform here has begun questioning China’s role in the island nation ahead of the January 8 presidential election.
Earlier this week, leader of the United National Party (UNP) and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe pledged to scrap the $1.34-billion Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project, citing threats to the environment, once the joint opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena comes to power.
Beijing’s investments
The port city — Sri Lanka’s largest single foreign investment inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September — is being built alongside an existing Chinese-built container terminal, visible from Colombo’s famous Galle Face green stretch. China, as per the agreement with Sri Lanka, will gain ownership of a third of the nearly 580 acres of reclaimed land where the port city is to come up.
Recently, Champika Ranawaka — leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya or National Heritage Party, a party predominantly of Buddhist clergy — had warned that Sri Lanka was heading towards bankruptcy due to heavy reliance on borrowing from other countries.
In an interview to a local daily, the former Minister said the cost of many of the Chinese-funded projects in Sri Lanka, including the expressway connecting Colombo city to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, was overestimated. Critiquing President Rajapaksa’s development projects, he said: “The south of the country will be given away to China and the North to India.”
India vis-a-vis China
On Friday, Mr. Sirisena in his election manifesto said his government would maintain equal relations with India and China, as if to allay fears over Sri Lanka’s apparent tilt towards China.
On the joint opposition upping its anti-China rhetoric ahead of polls, foreign policy commentator and former diplomat Dayan Jayatilleka said it was a “crude attempt” to secure New Delhi’s support.
It was, he said, with a utilitarian purpose of “seeing whether the decision-making circle in New Delhi, equidistant as it is at the moment, would tilt in favour of the joint opposition.”
Irrespective of the party in power, Sri Lanka has historically had good relations with China, recognising the need to have support from a big power, Mr. Jayatilleka said, with a few exceptions on the part of the UNP. The current idea, however, may backfire for the joint opposition, he said, if sections of voters fear that the dramatically large projects may be halted. “Voters may regard China as the patron of the ruling family,” he said.
Explaining his leader’s comments, UNP spokesman on economic affairs Harsha de Silva said the party had nothing against China, but was critical of the lack of transparency in how the projects were carried out along with “those close to the regime”.
Pointing to findings stated in Mr. Ranawaka’s recent publication on the Sri Lankan economy, Mr. De Silva said a benchmark of $600,000 was set as the cost of constructing a kilometre of railway line in the country.
Tilt toward India?
While India’s IRCON was executing it in the island’s north at a cost of $2.5 million per km “with additional features”, a Chinese firm was constructing railway lines in the south at a cost of $10.5 million, he said.
“In all these mega deals, the loans come from a Chinese bank. The question we are asking is, can such huge costs be justified?” UNP parliamentarian asked.
The joint platform, he said, was for a strong economic bond with India to leverage its huge market. Given the geographic proximity to India, “Sri Lanka should become the gateway to India,” he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/colombo-opposition-takes-antichina-stand/article6711406.ece
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has pledged to scrap the $1.34-billion Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project, citing threats to the environment. Photo:AP
T his is a crude attempt to secure New Delhi’s support, says former diplomat
Amidst concern in India over the growing Chinese presence in Sri Lanka, the joint opposition platform here has begun questioning China’s role in the island nation ahead of the January 8 presidential election.
Earlier this week, leader of the United National Party (UNP) and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe pledged to scrap the $1.34-billion Chinese-funded Colombo Port City Project, citing threats to the environment, once the joint opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena comes to power.
Beijing’s investments
The port city — Sri Lanka’s largest single foreign investment inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September — is being built alongside an existing Chinese-built container terminal, visible from Colombo’s famous Galle Face green stretch. China, as per the agreement with Sri Lanka, will gain ownership of a third of the nearly 580 acres of reclaimed land where the port city is to come up.
Recently, Champika Ranawaka — leader of the Jathika Hela Urumaya or National Heritage Party, a party predominantly of Buddhist clergy — had warned that Sri Lanka was heading towards bankruptcy due to heavy reliance on borrowing from other countries.
In an interview to a local daily, the former Minister said the cost of many of the Chinese-funded projects in Sri Lanka, including the expressway connecting Colombo city to the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake, was overestimated. Critiquing President Rajapaksa’s development projects, he said: “The south of the country will be given away to China and the North to India.”
India vis-a-vis China
On Friday, Mr. Sirisena in his election manifesto said his government would maintain equal relations with India and China, as if to allay fears over Sri Lanka’s apparent tilt towards China.
On the joint opposition upping its anti-China rhetoric ahead of polls, foreign policy commentator and former diplomat Dayan Jayatilleka said it was a “crude attempt” to secure New Delhi’s support.
It was, he said, with a utilitarian purpose of “seeing whether the decision-making circle in New Delhi, equidistant as it is at the moment, would tilt in favour of the joint opposition.”
Irrespective of the party in power, Sri Lanka has historically had good relations with China, recognising the need to have support from a big power, Mr. Jayatilleka said, with a few exceptions on the part of the UNP. The current idea, however, may backfire for the joint opposition, he said, if sections of voters fear that the dramatically large projects may be halted. “Voters may regard China as the patron of the ruling family,” he said.
Explaining his leader’s comments, UNP spokesman on economic affairs Harsha de Silva said the party had nothing against China, but was critical of the lack of transparency in how the projects were carried out along with “those close to the regime”.
Pointing to findings stated in Mr. Ranawaka’s recent publication on the Sri Lankan economy, Mr. De Silva said a benchmark of $600,000 was set as the cost of constructing a kilometre of railway line in the country.
Tilt toward India?
While India’s IRCON was executing it in the island’s north at a cost of $2.5 million per km “with additional features”, a Chinese firm was constructing railway lines in the south at a cost of $10.5 million, he said.
“In all these mega deals, the loans come from a Chinese bank. The question we are asking is, can such huge costs be justified?” UNP parliamentarian asked.
The joint platform, he said, was for a strong economic bond with India to leverage its huge market. Given the geographic proximity to India, “Sri Lanka should become the gateway to India,” he said.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/colombo-opposition-takes-antichina-stand/article6711406.ece
