COLOMBO: The presidential election campaign came to an end on Saturday with the two chief contestants promising they would end ethnic conflict and be good to all Sri Lankans irrespective of their racial differences.
The Elections Department said that any form of canvassing from Sunday for Tuesday’s scheduled elections will disqualify the respective candidates who lobby support for their candidacy.
Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa held his last public meeting on Saturday at Malabe, a developing town on the outskirts of the capital, while his rival candidate and former army chief Gen. Sarath Fonseka conducted a mass rally in Maradana, in the heart of the city.
Rajapaksa made an ardent appeal to his countrymen to reelect him as the country’s president to continue his envisaged plans and policies.
“I will do my best to ameliorate the living conditions of people to give them a new lease of life after the defeat of terror.”
Rajapaksa brought the three-decade-old rebel activities to an end in May last year. “I have liberated the country from terror and made Sri Lanka a land of peace where people can live with content and happiness,” he said. Sri Lanka’s ruling party has plans to deploy the army to stay in power if Rajapaksa loses the presidential election, the common opposition candidate Fonseka said today.
Addressing the media this morning on the final day of campaigning, the opposition candidate said that they would not leave any room for such a move.
The opposition would launch street protests if the government tries to rig the votes, the opposition candidate warned. He, however, said that he has confidence in the elections commissioner and members of the armed forces who are committed to democratic principles.
The president and his former military chief are engaged in a bitter campaign that has been marred by unprecedented violence. Both sides accuse each other for the violence that has so far claimed four lives and around 700 incidents of election-related violence.
Sri Lanka’s election chief Dayananda Dissanayake has dismissed the claims of vote manipulation assuring that he has taken unprecedented measures to prevent any malpractices and ensure a free and fair poll. He urged the losing party not to complain of malpractices afterward.
Fonseka claimed that the opposition has secured the support of the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, a party once considered a proxy party of the LTTE, and the government has only the support of minor Tamil parties.
Responding to questions about war crime inquiries, the presidential candidate said he will address the issue if and when it arises. He said his party’s main goal is to create harmony among the country’s different communities.
Security forces are on alert in Sri Lanka, as the country braces itself for one of the most violent elections in more than 20 years. The house of senior opposition activist Tiran Alles was bombed in the latest attack. The residence of Karu Jayasuriya, a senior opposition legislator, was attacked by unknown men, yesterday. There are fears the violence will worsen before voting begins.
Election monitoring groups say the election campaign has turned into the most violent in more than 20 years in Sri Lanka.
