Since his ouster as president, Rajapaksa has been actively plotting his comeback by positioning himself as a prime ministerial hopeful. On Thursday, as the campaign headed towards its business end, Sirisena wrote a powerful five-page letter to Rajapaksa, effectively blocking his bid to become prime minister, should the party win an unlikely majority next week. A strong showing by the Rajapaksa-led UPFA, however, would complicate the president’s plans to form a broad-based “national” government between the UNP, smaller parties and the reformist wing of the SLFP and present obstacles to further progress on much-needed governance reforms and reconciliation.
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Yet the predominant colours in the area are not the blue of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), but the green of premier Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) that formed a minority government after Rajapaksa was ousted in January.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa today responded to the letter from President Maithripala Sirisena, with a letter of his own.
He added that people have accepted Rajapakse as future prime minister and those who had voted against him in January have now turned in favour of him. It also includes the Buddhist monks’ party, the Jathika Hela Urumaya, minority parties like the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) and the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA).
Rajapaksa, 69, is doing everything he can to spoil the party.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday sacked both his party secretaries amid ongoing tussle with his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, days ahead of the parliamentary polls. Many observers were stunned by Sirisena’s victory over Rajapakse, who had been in power for almost a decade and oversaw the crushing of the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in 2009.
Wickramasinghe, many believe, is the right man to lead and reinvigorate the Sri Lankan economy, especially with his pro-West, liberal outlook. “It can not be discounted, but I don’t think it’s likely” says Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Co-Convener of the Center for Monitoring Election Violence in Sri Lanka.
“We are afraid that the persecution of minorities could happen again if Rajapaksa returns”, said Mohammad Sifnas, who runs a grocery stall in the central market. While few opinion polls are reliable, an island-wide survey by the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives this month showed about 40 percent backing Wickremesinghe for prime minister, with 28 percent supporting Rajapaksa. The former president said last month that he wants to help boost growth and restart projects suspended by the Sirisena administration, including a Chinese-funded $1.4 billion port city, the largest foreign funded project on record.
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“It is amusing you have started to visit temples around the country along with media coverage following your election loss”, President says Rajapaka’s political behavior and statements however indicate his burning hatred and egoism. The district is also home to most number of armed forces’ families, besides being close to Polonnaruwa, Sirisena’s constituency since 1989.
