RIYADH, 19 November 2005 — Sri Lankan expatriates yesterday expressed mixed reactions on the election of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as the fifth president of the island. Some acknowledged that there is new hope for peace, while others felt it would create more problems with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could eventually lead to civil war.
“I consider this as a vote against the peace process,” S.K. Subramaniam, a senior banker in the Kingdom said , pointing out that Rajapakse was against LTTE views on a federal state, power sharing and distribution of tsunami funds.
Saifudeen Thassim, assistant general manager of the SAMBA Financial Group, said the election of Rajapakse had put an end to the dynastic rule of the Bandaranaikes and the Senananayakes. “He is a man of the masses and people expect a lot from him to nurture minority interests.” Thassim hoped that the Muslims who were chased out of the northern town of Jaffna would be resettled.
The former president of the Sri Lanka Expatriates Society in Riyadh, Nihal Gamage, described the election as a hard-fought battle and said the victor should be given full support to fulfill his election pledges. He said the boycott of the Tamil voters had paved the way for Rajapakse’s victory. Ranil Wickremesinghe was banking on the 300,000 Tamil votes for his victory.
A member of the Tamil community, who wished to remain anonymous, said the LTTE settled old scores with Wickremesinghe through this boycott. He alleged that when he was prime minister, Wickremesinghe helped renegade Tamil leader Karuna to flee the rebel bastion. “To this day, Karuna at large remains a threat to LTTE due to Wickremesinghe’s actions.”
Imtiaz Hameed from Dammam said: “By abstaining from voting, Tamils have disappointed the peace-loving people of the island.” By allowed the hard-liners to come to power in Colombo, the LTTE is trying to tell the international community that peace talks are not possible with the Sri Lankan government.”
Cellacuddy Murugadas, a chartered accountant working for a private firm, said: “Let bygones be bygones. Let the new president focus his attention on restoring peace and order in the country.” He should create a proper atmosphere for dialogue between the LTTE and the government so that this longstanding problem is solved amicably, he added.
“We want peace in the country and the new president should initiate some schemes for the Gulf returnees,” M.H.M. Jiffry, secretary to the Board of Management at the Sri Lankan International School in Jeddah, said. “By nature, Sri Lankan workers do not stay long in Saudi Arabia, they should be given some business opportunities in Sri Lanka when they return home for good.”
