Col R Hariharan
Presidential poll
There is widespread
speculation about a snap presidential election early next year around January
9. President Mahinda Rajapaksa who returned after attending the UN General Assembly session,
is expected to take a final
call on this soon. He was said to be waiting to decide on the presidential poll
after the Uva Provincial Council election which has concluded now. According to
media reports the Government has already started the preparatory work for an
election likely to be held early next year.
Already some of the
coalition partners like the right wing the Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU) have
indicated that their partnership of the UPFA should not be taken for granted. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka
(BASL) which had been on a war path with President Rajapaksa,has sought legal
opinion from foreign experts for advice on the Constitutional propriety of Rajapaksa contesting for a third
term before completing his full term of six years ending only in November
2016.
Already allegations
of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) misusing government servants for
their electoral preparations have started coming. UNP leader Karu Jayasuriya
alleged eight prominent government officials and 62 chairmen of government
institutions had participated at the opening of the SLFP election propaganda
office in Colombo on September 25 for the presidential election. He feared the presidential election
would not be held in a free and fair manner because the UPFA Government had
already decided to deploy the entire state machinery in its campaign for the
election.
Uva Provincial
Council elections
The opposition
UNP staged a comeback in the Uva Provincial Council elections winning 13 seats
as against 7 seats it won in the 2009 poll. Though the UPFA retained the
majority, its winning tally came down to 19 (including two bonus seats for
securing the highest number of votes) from 25 seats in the last
provincial election. The JVP managed to secure two seats while former Army
Commander Fonseka’s Democratic Party drew a blank.
Though Uva is the
smallest province with a national vote share of about 7%, many consider the
results as an indication of increasing disenchantment of voters with the UPFA
alliance. The UNP leader Harin Fernando has emerged as the hero of UNP victory.
The UNP’s improved performance was probably helped by the patching up between
Ranil Wickremesinghe and the challenger for leadership mantle Sajith Premadasa
at least for the time being.
The media has alleged the ruling alliance of indulging in widespread violence and offer of cash to voters during the run up to the elections which appears to be an increasing factor in Sri Lanka elections. Some locals have attributed the ruling alliance’s failure to loss of confidence in the UPFA and to two senior cabinet ministers from the Province indulging in widespread corruption.
Though the UNP’s mood is upbeat after the election, the ruling SLFP party appears to be confident of Rajapaksa leading the UPFA to victory.
President
Rajapaksa at the UN
Political parties
in Tamil Nadu had vociferously taken up the litany of Tamil Diaspora activists
calling upon the UN not to allow President Rajapaksa to address the UN General
Assembly meeting held during the month. But Indian government chose to ignore
it. Even in Tamil Nadu the mood was not upbeat on the subject.
President
Rajapaksa addressed the UN
General Assembly and explained his objections to the UNHRC initiated inquiry
commission. He also had a cordial meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting. A day after that, UN Deputy
High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansier submitting a summary of the update
urged the Sri Lankan Government to keep the channels open with regards to the
UN investigation on Sri Lanka.
In the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) update, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urged the Sri Lanka
Government to end the climate of intimidation, threat and harassment against
civil society actors advocating for justice and human rights, as well as
incitement to hatred and violence against the country’s Muslim and Christian
minorities, which would only undermine the prospects for peace and reconciliation.
Miscellaneous
Myanmar’s
anti-Muslim monk in Sri Lanka: Myanmar’s controversial anti-Muslim Buddhist cleric Ashin Wirathu, leader of the 969
Movement, visiting Sri Lanka at the invitation of Bodhu Bala Sena (BBS) known
for its anti-Muslim activism has announced that his movement would join hands
with the BBS “to protect Buddhists all round the world," against Islamic
extremism. The Myanmar cleric was addressing a BBS convention held at Colombo.
Sri Lanka had allowed the controversial Myanmar monk to attend the BBS
convention despite objections from Muslims in Sri Lanka.
India’s
assistance: India has set up a language lab in Kandy to improve Sri Lanka’s
general level of proficiency in English language. The initiative aims to
familiarise English teachers with recent trends in English language teaching to
upgrade their skills.
Chinese submarine berths in Colombo: A Chinese diesel-electric Type 039
"Song-class" submarine berthed in Colombo for the first time. The Chinese
government said the submarine had made a replenishment stopover in Sri Lanka on
way to the Gulf of Aden for escort and anti-piracy operations, as was the
"common practice" for navies around the world. This is yet another indicator of
the ever-increasing forays of the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) in the
Indian Ocean Region (IOR) after gaining a foothold in Sri Lanka.
Written on September 30, 2014
Courtesy: South Asia Security Trends, October 2014, Vol.8 No.9
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