Former Sri Lankan president and parliamentary candidate Mahinda Rajapakse, centre, waves during the launch of his party election manifesto in Colombo yesterday.
Reuters
Colombo
Sri Lanka’s former leader Mahinda Rajapakse vowed yesterday to reclaim power in a general election, eight months after he was ousted as president, saying he was “ready for struggle” against an international war crimes investigation.
Defeated by erstwhile ally Maithripala Sirisena in January, Rajapakse wants to turn the tables at the August 17 parliamentary polls, setting his sights on the post of prime minister that has been beefed up under constitutional reforms.
Launching his manifesto, the 69-year-old sought to mobilise public opinion against a UN investigation into suspected atrocities committed against minority Tamils towards the end of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war.
“We think fresh. We are ready for a struggle and war on behalf of the country,” Rajapakse said as he announced policies designed to appeal to poorer voters in the island nation of 20mn off southeast India.
The UN report on human rights in the final stages of the war in 2009, when Rajapakse’s military crushed resistance in the Tamil-speaking north, is due to be released after the election.
The United Nations estimated in 2011 that up to 40,000 civilians died in the final army assault.
Appealing to his core base of Buddhist Sinhalese speakers, who make up more than seven in 10 voters, Rajapakse said: “Are you going to vote to divide this country and take us to court in Geneva?”
Rajapakse is also under investigation for suspected misuse and misappropriation of public funds, while his brothers are fighting corruption charges. He denies wrongdoing.
His opponents accuse him of overpaying for investments backed by China. The biggest is the $1.4bn Colombo Port City project, a symbol of China’s influence and a waystation on its most important trade route.
Rajapakse conceded the leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party after his election defeat, but Sirisena’s failure to take control of the party left the door open for him to regroup and contest the election.
There has been no opinion poll on the election, but political analysts say Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party-led coalition, which backed Sirisena in January, has an edge over Rajapakse’s party.
Rajapakse’s dwelt on his past achievements as leader and gave few clues as to what he would do if elected, beyond promising cheap goods for the poor.
“I am not sure that is going to win new votes for him,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director at the Centre for Policy Alternatives. “They aren’t offering anything new. They keep talking about the past.”
Lanka opposition scraps promise of autonomy for Tamils in poll manifesto
Sri Lanka’s main opposition party yesterday scrapped a longstanding promise to give greater autonomy to minority Tamils, as it tries to win over hardline sections of the Sinhalese majority before a general election.
In its manifesto launched in Colombo, former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) said it would refuse to grant more powers to a local council in the Tamils’ northern heartland if it won the August 17 election.
Before he was toppled in presidential polls in January, Rajapakse had promised to build on a law passed in 1987 giving some autonomy to ethnic Tamils.
The law was brokered by neighbouring India to try to end a decades-long conflict between Sri Lanka’s military and Tamil rebels fighting for a separate homeland.
Rajapakse, an ethnic Sinhalese, remains popular among big sections of the island’s largest community for overseeing the defeat of the rebels in 2009.
“Criminal activity has increased in the north... it is becoming a dangerous situation. If things were all right, there would be no need for me to come back and contest elections,” he said at the launch.
The manifesto did not say why the party was withdrawing the autonomy promise, but political observers said it was aimed at winning over hardline Sinhalese who oppose power-sharing with Tamils.
President Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated his one-time mentor, has pledged to bring about reconciliation with Tamils.
The UPFA manifesto also pledged to double the minimum wage and give tax-free cars to wide sections of society and extend generous subsidies to farmers.
