COLOMBO, Nov 8: Sri Lankan political circles and the media are vigorously discussing the possibility of the candidature of Gen Sarath Fonseka, currently Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of Sri Lankan army, in the coming presidential election as a challenger to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

They are going into the pros and cons of it and speculating whether he would fight as a party candidate or as an independent supported by various parties

The United National Party (UNP) will take a decision on supporting the candidature of Gen Sarath Fonseka, in the coming Sri Lankan presidential election, only after its leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, returns from New Delhi.

A top UNP source said that the issue was clouded. “As on date, there is no certainty that Gen Fonseka will be a presidential candidate, let alone being a common opposition candidate. He is not saying anything,” the source said.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is in favour of his candidature, but constituents of the UNP-led United National Front (UNF) are unsure and divided. The Democratic People’s Front (DPF), a party of Indian Origin Tamils led by Mano Ganesan, for example, has forwarded a questionnaire to Gen Fonseka asking for his policy on the Tamil question, the war refugees, and abolition of the Executive Presidency.

The DPF’s decision would hinge on the response to these queries, Ganesan said.

Suresh Premachandran, an MP of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a party based in the war-affected north and east, said that the choice for the Sri Lankan Tamils would be between the devil and deep sea if the main contestants were Mr Rajapaksa and Gen Fonseka.

“Both stand for Sinhala-Buddhist supremacy, both had waged war against the Tamils, have detained refugees and had said that the minorities could not ask for any special protective rights.

“However, the political situation is still unclear and we have to wait until it does. The TNA has a fallback option, which is to put up its own candidate. If we do, the Tamils will have no problem deciding who to vote for. ”
Tags: