Tag: Sri Lanka
‘s relatively peaceful polls
UNITED NATIONS, January 27, 2010 (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced relief that Sri Lanka’s presidential polls went off relatively peacefully and urged the country’s political parties to abide by the official results. “I had been concerned at the level of violence during the campaign,” Ban told reporters here. “I am relieved […]
Sri Lanka inflation accelerate to 6.5-pct in Jan
Jan 28, 2010 (LBO) – Inflation in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo accelerated to 6. 5 percent in January 2010 from a year earlier, up from 4.8 percent December while prices increased 1.4 percent during the month, the government’s statistics office said. Sri Lanka’s Colombo consumer price index (CCPI) has been rising steadily after April 2009 […]
Sri Lanka President ahead in early results
Jan 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa was leading his rival, common opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka in early results in an election where over 70 percent of the electorate turned up to vote. Fonseka won the Jaffna polling division Updated Rajapaksa had bagged nearly 60 percent and Fonseka around 38 percent with […]
‘s hotel
January 27, 2010 (AFP) – Heavily armed troops on Wednesday surrounded the hotel occupied by Sri Lanka’s main presidential challenger, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, a military spokesman said. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said troops were deployed following information that army deserters were among 400 people inside the lake-front luxury hotel in central Colombo “We have […]
Two killed in Sri Lanka post-poll violence
January 27, 2010 (AFP) – A Buddhist monk and another man were killed in a grenade attack on a temple in Sri Lanka’s central town of Gampola on Wednesday as presidential election results were being released, police said. Police spokesman I.M. Karunaratne said four others were wounded and a curfew had been declared in the […]
Sri Lanka president wins re-election
January 27, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse won a bruising re-election battle on Wednesday, but the result was rejected by his opponent who spent the day holed up in a hotel surrounded by troops. The election commissioner said Rajapakse had secured 57. 9 percent of the popular vote in Tuesday’s presidential poll […]
Sri Lanka on edge as results released
January 27, 2010 (AFP) – President Mahinda Rajapakse has taken the lead in Sri Lanka’s tense election, officials said Wednesday, but the opposition said it was on course for power despite a row over its candidate’s eligibility. Election officials said Rajapakse, who is being challenged by his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, had won over […]
Sri Lanka postal ballots favour Rajapaksa
Jan 27, 2010 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa led in postal ballots of mostly state workers with opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka getting a lead in only districts in which results were declared. Common opposition candidate Fonseka led in postal ballots in Jaffna in the north and Batticaloa in the East with postal ballots […]
Bomb blasts shadow bitter Sri Lankan presidential poll
January 26, 2010 (AFP) – Pre-dawn bomb blasts in Sri Lanka’s Tamil heartland escalated tensions as the country went to the polls Tuesday in the first presidential election since the end of its 37-year civil war. The bomb attacks on the house of a ruling party activist in the northern peninsula of Jaffna underlined the […]
Sri Lanka heads to polls for tense election
January 25, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka goes to the polls Tuesday in its first post-war presidential election, contested by the men who ended the island nation’s 37-year conflict but whose bitter clash threatens more instability. “If there is a war, we will face it,” he added, threatening street protests and rallies. Rajapakse, like Fonseka […]
Sri Lanka polls open for tense presidential election
January 26, 2010 (AFP) – Pre-dawn bomb blasts in Sri Lanka’s Tamil heartland escalated tensions as the country went to the polls Tuesday in the first presidential election since the end of its 37-year ethnic conflict. The bomb attacks in the northern peninsula of Jaffna were a violent start to an already bitter contest between […]
Sri Lankan Tamils pray for post-election peace
VAVUNIYA, January 26, 2010 (AFP) – Sri Lanka’s minority Tamils, for decades in the crossfire between rebels and government forces, hope their potentially decisive role in Tuesday’s election will finally bring them peace. The two main candidates, President Mahinda Rajapakse and former general Sarath Fonseka, were the architects of a final assault on Tamil Tiger […]