AFP/Colombo
A senior minister quit Sri
Lanka’s ruling party yesterday to stand as the main opposition’s candidate in
January elections, accusing President Mahinda Rajapakse of being a corrupt
dictator.
As organisers confirmed the
election would be on January 8, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said he
was confident of toppling his boss in an announcement that earned him the sack
from his other post as general secretary of the president’s Sri Lanka Freedom
Party (SLFP).
Underlining the scale of the
threat facing Rajapakse, Sirisena was joined at his defection announcement by
former president Chandrika Kumaratunga who also said she was leaving the SLFP.
The defection by Sirisena to the
main opposition United National Party (UNP) appears to have taken Rajapakse by
surprise and represents a major challenge to the authority of the region’s
longest-serving ruler.
“I thank the UNP for choosing me
as the common opposition candidate,” Sirisena told reporters in Colombo. “We
will definitely win.”
Rajapakse declared on Thursday
that he will seek an unprecedented third term as president — a move that was
only made possible after he pushed through changes to the constitution.
While Rajapakse remains generally
popular with majority Sinhalese voters after overseeing the end of a 37-year
war against Tamil separatists in 2009, critics say he has become increasingly
authoritarian.
“The country is heading towards a
dictatorship,” said 63-year-old Sirisena, who also accused the president of
nepotism and corruption.
“The entire economy and every
aspect of society is controlled by one family.”
The president’s brothers include
the speaker of parliament Chamal Rajapakse, the economic development minister
Basil Rajapakse and the powerful defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse.
His eldest son Namal is a
lawmaker and heads the SLFP’s youth wing.
“Corruption is rampant, there is
no rule of law,” added Sirisena who promised to reverse the constitutional
amendments brought in under Rajapakse which have increased the powers of the
president.
“I urge you to support me to
scrap the executive presidency. I will scrap this executive within 100 days.”
His endorsement by the former
president Kumaratunga, who is the daughter of two former prime ministers, is
seen as a major boost to Sirisena’s electoral fortunes.
“After nine years I am ending my
silence. I have decided to re-enter active politics to help bring down a
corrupt regime,” said Kumaratunga who has kept a low profile since handing over
the leadership of the SLFP to Rajapakse in 2005.
“The question is whether we allow
one family to destroy the country or restore decency in politics.” Kumaratunga,
who served as president from 1994-2005, told reporters.
“It will be a betrayal of the
nation if I do not help this group.”
Three other ministers appeared
alongside Sirisena to declare that they were also
defecting.
Officials close to Rajapakse said
that the president only realised that Sirisena was about to jump ship a couple
of days ago.
Rajapakse had believed the UNP
would field its own leader and former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe in the
contest.
Soon after Sirisena’s
announcement, chief commissioner of elections Mahinda Deshapriya confirmed that
the elections would be on January 8, exactly one month after the close of
nominations for
candidates.
It means that the elections will
be held only days before a scheduled visit by Pope Francis from January 13 to
15, with the Church warning that parties should not use the trip for
political advantage.
The contest is taking place
against a backdrop of growing international pressure over the Rajapakse
administration’s
human rights record.
The 69-year-old also faces
accusations that his administration has silenced dissenting voices, including
the media and judiciary after he sacked the chief justice last year.
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