The Scotsman
Published Date: 25 January 2010
By C Bryson Hull in Colombo
SRI LANKA's first post-war presidential election tomorrow has turned into a violent contest between two former allies who led the nation to victory over the Tamil Tigers but are now bitter political foes.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from General Sarath Fonseka, who as army commander led a relentless campaign to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) three-decade separatist insurgency.
On Tuesday, polls open for an election in which nearly 14.1 million people are registered to vote. More than 68,000 police will be deployed to protect polling stations and there are fears voting day could be bloody.
There is little difference between the Rajapaksa and Fonseka campaign platforms, both of which are heavy on populist subsidies, pledges of pay rises to Sri Lanka's bloated public sector and promises of rural development.
Gen Fonseka has said he would abolish the executive presidency to restore some kind of balance of power, but few, in the political parties behind him or elsewhere, expect that to happen.
Both men have accused the other of corruption.
Campaigning so far has been beset by more than 800 reported acts of violence and there have been at least four deaths.
Gen Fonseka has said he is confident of victory, but accused the government of scheming to steal it from him.
"There is a rigging campaign going on but I appeal to you not to allow that. Protect your future," he told supporters.
Mr Rajapaksa's campaign denies planning any voter fraud, and says it will not need to do so to secure a win. "We are confident, and according to polls we can win with over 65 per cent," said Susil Premajayantha, general secretary of Mr Rajapaksa's United Peoples Freedom Alliance.
Both men stood together at the historic declaration of victory over the LTTE in May, after one of Asia's longest-running wars. But since then, Gen Fonseka has split with Mr Rajapaksa over what he said was a promotion to chief of defence staff meant to sideline him and false allegations of a coup plot. He stood down from his military position in November.
The victory led Mr Rajapaksa to call an election two years before his first term expired in the hope his post-war popularity would secure him a second one.
But the entry of Gen Fonseka, a political novice with the backing of a coalition of political parties whose sole point of agreement is a desire to see Mr Rajapaksa lose, rapidly changed the equation.
Although there are no credible opinion polls on the island, the consensus is that the men are neck-and-neck.
Western diplomats are equivocal about which candidate they prefer, saying that neither's platform differs much and that both could be implicated in potential war crimes inquiries focusing on the thousands of civilians killed in the war's final months.
CONTENDERS
GENERAL Sarath Fonseka, 59, is a career military officer who was army commander from 2005 to 2009. He led the victorious military campaign to crush the Tamil Tigers..
He was twice wounded and in April 2006, a female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber blew herself up next to his car, nearly killing him.
PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapaksa, 64, became the youngest MP in 1970. He became president in 2005, during a tenuous ceasefire agreement with the Tigers. Peace talks failed and in 2006 he turned to his brother Gotabaya, a retired infantry officer then defence secretary, to draw up a plan to finally defeat the Tigers.
Millions spent on election propaganda
Main presidential candidates in Sri Lanka have spent an staggering Rs. 450 million only for propaganda purposes, an anti-corruption watchdog has said.
The Programme for Protection of Public Resources (PPPR) of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) says that both main candidates have so far failed to reveal the source of huge money spent for propaganda campaigns.
“The huge sums of money spent on the political party campaigning raises concern about their sources both in terms of possible use of public money and as a matter of transparency in the interest of the public,” the PPPR said in a statement.
Nearly Rs. 80 million has been spent on behalf of main opposition candidate, Gen (retd) Sarath Fonseka, it said.
State media
For President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s campaign, according to the PPPR, apprx. Rs. 378 million has been spent raising questions as to who funded these propaganda campaigns.
“This is merely the costs of publishing, broadcasting or telecasting the advertisements in print and electronic media (excluding the cost of production), based on the disclosed rates per rate cards,” it said.
The PPPR in its fourth report on Tuesday’s elections has accused the government of misusing public resources including state media.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court earlier ordered state and private media to comply with the election commissioner’s guidelines in the run up to the elections.
But the elections commissioner had to withdraw the competent authority he appointed to oversee the conduct of the state media as they did not respect Commissioner's guidelines.
The Chief incumbent of the Malwatte Chapter in Sri Lanka, meanwhile, has warned President Mahinda Rajapaksa that the non compliance of Supreme Court orders might lead to the deterioration of law and order in Sri Lanka.
The Most Venerable Thibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala thera of the Malwatte chapter in a letter has drawn president's special attention to state media which continued to act disregarding Supreme Court orders.
It is very rarely that chief Buddhist prelates come out with such warnings to the head of state.
Epilogue
Luxury backdrop to Sri Lankan poll drama
In the lobby of the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel, the pianist played, Japanese tourists took photos and waiters glided by with the trays for high tea.
Later, a wedding reception gathered to enjoy the ambience of Colombo's newest five-star.
But, outside, soldiers armed to the teeth swarmed up to those coming and going, checking every person and every single vehicle.
Gen Sarath Fonseka was inside, and the authorities, with their candidate President Mahinda Rajapaksa taking a commanding electoral lead, were clearly trying to prove something to him. Quite what, however, remained obscure.
In the small hours of Wednesday morning, the military spokesman said he knew nothing of the enhanced security at the Lakeside.
If it existed, he said, it must be because people in the hotel were planning "sabotage activities".
Preventative presence
Later he said there were 400 people with the general, including military deserters, who must surrender.
But the defence secretary said the soldiers at the hotel were simply part of a nationwide effort to prevent post-electoral violence.
The stand-off continued - were they trying to prevent a coup? Or launch a coup? Or arrest Gen Fonseka?
By the afternoon, Gen Fonseka had summoned journalists - ensconced in this five-star prison for much of the day - and said he feared being assassinated, especially if his security detail were removed.
He also rejected the final election result, which gave Mr Rajapaksa a substantial victory. By now the president's ecstatic supporters were already throwing firecrackers around in the streets.
But the general said there had been irregularities and rigging in some places, and that he would mount a legal challenge.
He said there were grounds to ask the elections commissioner, Dayananda Dissanayake, to annul the outcome of this historic post-war poll.
His reasons include the inability of many internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils to cast their vote because of inadequate transport between camps and villages; and the alleged misuse of state resources by the president's side, including the use of public funds for Mr Rajapaksa's campaign and the state media's partisanship against the general.
Independent monitoring groups back many of Gen Fonseka's complaints, saying the infringements by the president's side are unprecedented - despite the government's denials of wrongdoing.
Leaving the country?
Mr Dissanayake, too, despite announcing the results, echoes the criticisms.
Throughout the campaign he said state media and other institutions were breaking the rules.
But it may be difficult for the general to present a strong case for annulment.
The margin of victory is much larger than many predicted, with Mr Rajapaksa getting more than six million votes, compared with just over four million for Gen Fonseka.
Also, despite many election day irregularities, there were not complaints of very wide-scale chaos or of vote-rigging on a large scale.
For him to be in a stronger position there would have to be proof of misdeeds on election day, well-informed sources in Colombo said.
There are, of course, many opponents of the president who feel disaffected by the whole violent election campaign. But could the general rally them to his support?
Late at night, Gen Fonseka finally left the hotel in a BMW and was not arrested. "Why should we persecute him?" asked Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
But the president's brother said the authorities were concerned about allegations against them made by Gen Fonseka during the campaign.
From his home, the general who would be president spoke to the BBC again.
Fearful for his security, he plans to go temporarily abroad for a while, he said. But he said he would "not forget the people".
A day of high drama ended, leaving the two presidential candidates more estranged than ever.
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