(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Sri Lanka has never witnessed a presidential election where the outcome has been this unpredictable.
Colombo: Dammika Perera a 28 year old man pleads with people on the street to buy his green citrus fruits. He has sold only one since morning and needs the money to buy some flour and rice before the presidential elections on Thursday he says.
Two days before the most dramatic presidential elections the country has seen the people of the island are nervous. Sri Lanka has never witnessed a presidential election where the outcome has been this unpredictable. On Thursday Lankans will decide whether President Mahinda Rajapaksa will stay in power or his serious challenger Maithripala Sirisena who defected to a common opposition in an unexpected turn of events will be voted in. Since Sirisena’s defections dozens of others including close allies of the ruling party have crossed over to the common opposition.
A bank manager in Colombo says that Tuesday has seen unprecedented withdrawal of monies by its customers. Public as well as private schools in Colombo that reopened on Monday after the December holidays have recorded low attendance. People queuing at supermarkets and the traditional markets to stock up complain about the sharp price hike of pre-election of vegetables and essentials. Pharmacists in Colombo as well as outstation have reported a sharp rise in sales.
Several cases of elections related violence has been reported across the country and security has been beefed up around counting centres while the ominous presence of the military reminds people of Sri Lanka’s war era. “You don’t know what will happen after the elections it’s better to be prepared” says Priyalal Wickramatunge manager of a computer accessories company loading his shopping cart with food items and a month’s worth of medication for his family at a supermarket in Colombo.
Like Wickramatunge Sri Lankans around the country are nervous about the post-election situation of the country and are getting “prepared” for any eventuality. “I’ve packed a bag with all our documents clothes cash and some food” says a 38 year old Tamil woman who is a mother of two. “Maybe I’m overly precautious after my family lost everything in the 1983 riots but it’s better to be safe than sorry” says the accountant who refuses to be named. Two days ago the Tamil National Alliance Lanka’s core Tamil party asked the country’s 11 per cent Tamils to vote for the common candidate. Last week the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress the main Muslim party announced it will also back Sirisena because of Rajapaksa’s “intolerance towards religious minorities.”
Tamils feel the Sinhalese dominated government discounts them while Muslims are still reeling from a series of violent attacks by extremist Buddhist monks overlooked by the government.
However Sirisena has made no mention of minority rights or of any political solution to the ethnic conflict and has not visited the Tamil populated North that has witnessed a development drive under the current government since the end of the war. The sense of unease is not confined to the Tamils and Muslims whose leaders announced that they will back Sirisena. Even the majority Sinhalese in the cities and suburbs are voicing their concern.
— newskhaleejtimes.com
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