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Sri Lanka’s Tamils say they will back president’s challenger
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-s-tamils-say-they-will-back-president-s-challenger-1.1437512Tamil political leaders have thrown half-hearted support behind Sirisena mainly because they detest Rajapakse so much. They are also hopeful that a change in leadership would help Tamils to rebuild their lives after the war, and perhaps even lead to a power-sharing agreement that would give Tamils more autonomy, even though Sirisena has said he opposes the idea.
“We need a leader who will have the courage and conviction to give all the people of this country their right to live as equal citizens,” Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper a few days ago.
Both Sirisena and Rajapakse are ethnic Sinhalese, who make up about three-quarters of the island’s 21 million people. Neither man has done much to reach out to Tamils, who account for about 9 per cent of the population. Their policy statements ignore central Tamil political demands, from locating missing persons to ending the military occupation of private land in Tamil areas.
Rajapakse’s power has grown immensely since the war’s end in 2009, when he was hailed as a saviour among many Sinhalese for defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels, a campaign that included relentless artillery bombardment that a UN report says may have killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians.
“We need a leader who will have the courage and conviction to give all the people of this country their right to live as equal citizens,” Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, leader of the Tamil National Alliance told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times newspaper a few days ago.
Both Sirisena and Rajapakse are ethnic Sinhalese, who make up about three-quarters of the island’s 21 million people. Neither man has done much to reach out to Tamils, who account for about 9 per cent of the population. Their policy statements ignore central Tamil political demands, from locating missing persons to ending the military occupation of private land in Tamil areas.
Rajapakse’s power has grown immensely since the war’s end in 2009, when he was hailed as a saviour among many Sinhalese for defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels, a campaign that included relentless artillery bombardment that a UN report says may have killed up to 40,000 Tamil civilians.
This election is pretty momentous for the Indian ocean rim. Not only is the future of Tamil/Sinhalese reconciliation at question, Rajapakse has a very pro-China policy, while Sirisena seeks closer ties with India.
