NE Tamils may tilt the balance

P K Balachandran COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan Tamils living in the Northern and Eastern provinces may tilt the balance in the January 26 Lankan Presidential election which is expected to be a close contest between Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent President, and Gen Sarath Fonseka, the joint Opposition candidate.

In the last Presidential poll held in 2005, Rajapaksa won by a very narrow margin, getting 4,887,152 votes as against 4,706,366 secured by his rival Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP). Wickremesinghe had been dubbed as a pro-LTTE and pro-West politician who would divide Sri Lanka as he allegedly tried to do as the PM during the 2002-2004 Norwegian-brokered and West-backed peace process. Rajapaksa, on the other hand, was portrayed as a quintessential nationalist. REFURBISHED OPPOSITION IMAGE: This time the opposition is in a better position. Firstly, unlike Wickremesinghe, Fonseka is an acknowledged Sinhalese- Buddhist nationalist, and is also a military hero who defeated the LTTE. He is expected to be on the offensive, pointing an accusing finger at Rajapaksa for corruption, nepotism, and the failure to deliver the much-expected peace dividend. The LTTE too is not there to prevent the northeast Tamils from voting. Besides, Tamils know that Fonseka is backed by their favourite, Wickremesinghe.

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