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Sri Lanka votes peacefully in postwar elections

This article is more than 13 years old
Parliamentary poll expected to consolidate President Mahinda Rajapaksa's grip on power
London Tamils and their supporters remember their 72 day Parliament Square protest against the bloody Sri Lankan advance that eventually defeated the Tamil Tigers
guardian.co.uk

Polling has passed off peacefully in Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections, which are expected to result in a big victory for President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa is looking to consolidate his political dominance after winning re-election in January and then detaining his chief rival.

Voters lined up as polls opened today throughout the island. Rajapaksa cast his ballot in his home village of Medamulana in southern Sri Lanka.

The president is seeking a two-thirds majority for his United People's Freedom Alliance coalition which would allow him to change the constitution. He has raised the possibility of creating a second chamber for parliament and reforming the complicated voting system.

The opposition has been unable to stage much of a challenge. Its defeated presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, who led the army in its victory over the ethnic Tamil Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, is behind bars and facing a court martial. He is accused of unlawfully planning his political career before giving up his army post and of breaching regulations in purchasing military hardware.

Fonseka, denies all the charges, calling them politically motivated, and is running for a parliamentary seat in the capital, Colombo, despite his detention.

The former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is facing a challenge for the leadership of the largest opposition party, the United National Front, and party disunity after a series of election losses.

The opposition accuses Rajapaksa of stifling dissent, encouraging cronyism and corruption and trying to establish a family dynasty. Opposition politicians have raised concerns that the 64-year-old populist, who has been heavily criticised in the west though he retains considerable domestic support, will try to continue in power past the end of his second term in 2017. Aides and ministers deny this and diplomats in Colombo say it is unlikely.

Two of Rajapaksa's brothers and a son are running for parliament and other relatives occupy top government posts.

The prime minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, said a strong parliament was "necessary to go for a massive development programme".

A key issue confronting the new government will be how to reconcile with the minority Tamil community following the end of the civil war.

Rajapaksa has yet to follow though on his promise to discuss a power-sharing deal with the Tamils, more than 200,000 of whom remain displaced.

For Tamils, the election is an opportunity to choose a new voice for their community. For three decades, the rebels were the dominant voice, killing opponents who questioned them.

The Tamil National Alliance, a rebel proxy party that had 22 seats in the outgoing parliament, has split in three, with one faction siding with the government, another shedding its demand for an independent Tamil state and a third seeking a Sri Lankan confederation with Sinhalese and Tamil states.

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