Log In | Register
COLOMBO — Just months after winning Sri Lanka's brutal civil war, the president and the former army chief are locked in a bitter election that has forced them to woo the very Tamils they are accused of recently pounding with airstrikes and artillery fire.
Restrictions on travel in Tamil areas have been eased, tens of thousands of displaced civilians have been released from detention camps and both candidates have promised more concessions to the minority community.
The attention is a major shift for the beleaguered minority. U.N. reports say more than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final spasm of fighting this year as government forces closed in on the Tamil Tiger rebels — and hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians — hunkered down in the north of this Indian Ocean island nation.
The U.S. State Department accused the government and the rebels of possible war crimes in the killing of civilians during the fighting that ended in May.
Hoping to cash in on his war hero status with the Sinhalese majority, President Mahinda Rajapaksa called early elections for Jan. 26. But the surprise candidacy of retired Gen. Sarath Fonseka — who led the army to victory — has divided Sinhalese loyalties and put the Tamil community in the odd role of potential kingmaker between the two architects of the war.
Tamils are not fond of either leading candidate, said Suresh Premachandran, a Tamil lawmaker.
"They went through hardships. They lost thousands of thousands of their loved ones. The trauma which they've undergone is tremendous," he said.
"The voters are in a dilemma over which 'hero' they should choose," said Sakthivel Balakrishnan, an analyst with the research group Center for Development Alternatives.
In an effort to win over the Tamil vote, Rajapaksa has begun an intensive campaign targeting the mainly Hindu Tamils, who make up 18 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people.
TV advertisements show Rajapaksa, a Buddhist, worshipping at Hindu temples, receiving floral garlands and cuddling Tamil babies. The president also addresses rallies in the Tamil language, with the help of a teleprompter.
"I am your friend. I am your relative. Your prosperity is my aim," reads an election poster in predominantly Tamil areas of the capital, Colombo.
After months of resisting international pleas to release hundreds of thousands of displaced Tamils from detention camps, Rajapaksa decided in November to open up the camps — just two days before he called the new elections.
Tamils who previously waited days for defense ministry permits to travel by road from their cultural capital of Jaffna can now use the highway without security clearance.
Fonseka, the candidate of an opposition coalition, has made grand campaign promises, vowing to free thousands of young Tamil men suspected of rebel links despite a dearth of evidence and to grant amnesty to those who fought against the army.
He also has said government troops will return thousands of acres of occupied private land and houses in the so-called high security zones of Jaffna to their rightful owners and pay compensation for any damage.
Neither candidate has promised to grant the community's long-standing demand for a power sharing arrangement.
Twenty other candidates, including a Tamil lawmaker, are contesting the election, but Rajapaksa and Fonseka are seen as the main contenders.
Sri Lanka's main ethnic Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, which holds 22 of 225 seats in parliament, has endorsed Fonseka as the best chance to unseat Rajapaksa.
Party leader Rajavarothayam Sambathan cited human rights abuses during the last phase of the war and the government's inability to forge reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities as the reasons for supporting Fonseka.
Tamil Tiger rebels had fought since 1983 for a separate state for Tamils, who suffered decades of marginalization by Sinhalese-controlled governments.
Many Tamil voters interviewed by The Associated Press said the election presented them with less-than-ideal choices.
"Both of them played a part in our tragedy, but a change in government may be good," said A. Sarugan, 32, who recently returned to Jaffna after months in a refugee camp and was supporting Fonseka.
N. Ponnambalam, a 55-year-old fisherman from the village of Anaikkottai, favored Rajapaksa over Fonseka, who has never been tested in politics.
"Better the devil you know," he said.
___
Associated Press reporter Sinnathurai Thillainathan contributed to this report from Jaffna.
