Leader’s party to back breakaway candidate in poll
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president will stay neutral in the upcoming presidential election but his party will back a breakaway party candidate, frontrunner Gotabaya Rajapaksa, officials said yesterday.
Sri Lanka Freedom Party General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said President Maithripala Sirisena had temporarily stepped aside from leading the party to ensure his neutrality.
He said the decision was taken because questions could arise about the impartiality of police, which Mr Sirisena oversees.
The move is seen as an attempt by the ramshackle party to stay relevant after losing a majority of loyalists to breakaway Sri Lanka People’s Front that Mr Rajapaksa is using to contest the election.
This year’s election will be the first time for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which has been the second largest for more than six decades, not to field a candidate in a major national vote.
Party Vice President Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters that the decision to support Mr Rajapaksa was taken in the backdrop of a volatile security situation after Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 260 people.
“He is a proven administrator,’’ said Mr Samarasinghe.
Mr Rajapaksa, who served as a top defence official under his brother, former strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is popular for his part in ending the long civil war against ethnic minority Tamil rebels a decade ago.
He has been accused of condoning rights abuses.
The decision by Mr Sirisena’s party came after he decided not to seek reelection, apparently finding it difficult to beat Mr Rajapaksa given his popularity even within his own party ranks.
A record 35 candidates filed nominations on Monday for the Nov 16 election, with Mr Rajapaksa considered the favourite.
The April 21 suicide attacks by seven Muslim militants also boosted Mr Rajapaksa’s fortunes with many people praising his wartime role against the secessionist rebels.
Sri Lankan leaders and the security establishment have been under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence on possible attacks on churches.
Mr Sirisena has said he had been kept in the dark about the intelligence and appointed a presidential commission to investigate officials’ negligence to act on the intelligence.