We Must Not Allow The January 8th Democratic Gains To Be Rolled Back

By Veluppillai Thangavelu –July 30, 2015

Veluppillai Thangavelu

General election to Sri Lanka’s 15th parliament is less than 3 weeks away. It will be held on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule to elect 225 members. There is hectic campaign by the two main contenders namely the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) too entice the voters. Each alliance is claiming victory at the polls, but we will know how the voters will cast their vote. Surprisingly the voters have an uncanny knack and sophistication in picking the winning party.

Both the UNFGG and UPFA are facing the electorate as a divided house. UNFGG is facing the poll minus its allies the JVP, TNA and the Democratic Party (DP) led by Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. It is not clear why the DP is contesting separately when its leader owes the national government led by theUNP for quashing his previous convictions and rehabilitating him militarily as well as politically. If not for President Maithripala Sirisena‘s magnanimity in reinstating his voting right and right to stand for elections Sarath Fonseka would have remained in political doldrums for many years.

By a twist of fate the UPFA election campaign is led by the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to the discomfort of president Sirisena. Though president Sirisena was forced to give nomination to Rajapaksa against his wish, he has called up on the people to defeat him at the forthcoming polls. He went further to claim he want appoint him as prime minister even if the UPFA wins the elections.

At the presidential elections Mahinda Rajapaksa lost by a margin of only 449,072 votes. And Rajapaksa still feels bitter that his defeat was caused by the vote bank of Thamils in the North, East provinces and in Tamil dominated Nuwara Eliya electoral district.  He has been harping on his defeat since 9th January, the day after the elections. Rajapaksa has reason to feel bitter since he won majority of the votes in the remaining 16 districts in the south.  He polled 5,299,151 (5,299,151 (50.64%) as against 4.996,446 (48.38%) for president Sirisena.

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