Tag: politics

UNITED NATIONS, January 20, 2010 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon is alarmed by the growing violence in Sri Lanka, including the reported slaying of political activists, ahead of the upcoming presidential elections, his spokesman said Wednesday. “The Secretary General is concerned about the growing violence in the lead-up to the presidential election in Sri […]

Jan 20, 2010 (LBO) – A Sri Lankan citizen’s group has written to the two main candidates running for next weeks polls asking for more attention to the island’s minority groups and constitutional reforms to promote equality to all citizens. “We note with distress a major lacuna in both manifestos,” the group, Friday Forum said […]

January 18, 2010 (AFP) – A Sri Lankan opposition supporter was killed on Monday as fresh unrest erupted ahead of next week’s presidential election despite a security crackdown, police said. The man was killed in a clash with ruling party activists in northwestern Sri Lanka, the third politically-related death in the run-up to the vote […]

WASHINGTON, January 18, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s upcoming election is raising hopes in the United States for better relations after a chilly spell if the island turns the page on a bloody war that brought international opprobrium. The January 26 election comes months after troops killed the top leadership of the Tamil Tigers, ending […]

JAFFNA, January 17, 2010 (AFP) – Scarred by decades of war and official indifference, Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils are now being courted as political kingmakers — a shift that many of them view with bitter scepticism. With a presidential election just two weeks away, the two main candidates have been desperately wooing Tamil voters, offering […]

January 17, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s president ordered police to step up security ahead of presidential elections after a second political activist was shot dead this month, an official said Sunday. The ruling party supporter was killed on Saturday in the north-western Puttalam district where several others were injured when they clashed with opposition […]

January 15, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s opposition Friday accused the government of misleading the UN over the use of heavy weapons during the final stages of fighting against Tamil rebels last year. Sri Lanka’s Tamil community, numbering 12.5 percent of the population, has close cultural and religious links with India’s Tamil Nadu state, which […]

January 16, 2010 (AFP) – The United States and Norway on Saturday denied funding Sri Lanka’s main opposition to defeat President Mahinda Rajapakse’s re-election bid later this month. Norway, which was the peace broker until the Rajapakse administration withdrew from a faltering truce and escalated a military campaign against the Tigers early last year, denied […]

Jan 15, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s opposition presidential hopeful retired general Sarath Fonseka has said he may have to play referee between pro free market United National Party and Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. JVP is credited with key initiatives of the post-2004 economic program which proposed expanding state employment, subsidizing fuel and pushing state […]

January 12, 2010 (AFP) – Gunmen in Sri Lanka on Tuesday opened fire on a bus carrying supporters of the main opposition presidential candidate, killing one political activist, police said. Several other people were wounded when unidentified attackers sprayed bullets into the vehicle of campaigners backing Sarath Fonseka, who was not in the area at […]

Jan 13, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s post independence constitutions of 1972 and 1978 and the scrapping of the institution of permanent secretaries has usurped the rule of law and destroyed the impartiality of the public service, a rights body has said. Above the Law Fernando says the 1978 constitution where the president was placed […]

January 13, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan police Wednesday broke up clashes between political activists as violence linked to looming presidential polls escalated after gunmen shot dead an opposition party worker. Tear-gas was fired to disperse thousands of party workers in the eastern town of Polonnaruwa, local officials said by telephone. About 3,000 opposition supporters […]