Sri Lankan president re-elected; troops move in on challenger
Source: Agencies |
January 28, 2010, Thursday
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SRI Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a resounding re-election victory, state media reported yesterday, beating back a challenge from his former army chief who said he feared arrest after hundreds of troops surrounded his hotel.
People hit the streets in celebration, setting off fireworks, waving Sri Lankan flags and holding up posters of a smiling Rajapaksa. Policemen at intersections smiled and waved at the revelers. But the troop deployment also meant the capital remained tense.
With nearly all ballots counted, Rajapaksa had won 5.9 million votes, or 58 percent, to Sarath Fonseka's 4.1 million, or 40 percent, according to state TV. Turnout was about 70 percent. The president now must rebuild the country after last year's successful offensive to destroy the Tamil Tiger separatists after 25 years of conflict.
As the returns came in, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake Hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, gathered inside with Fonseka, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
"We don't know what's their motive, and as a protective measure we have deployed troops around the hotel, and people who go in and come out are being checked," Nanayakkara told The Associated Press. He said there were no plans to arrest Fonseka.
But, in a letter to the election commission, Fonseka said the troops were preventing him from leaving. Three of his employees were arrested and he feared arrest himself, he said. "I ask you to order the police and the relevant security authorities to ensure my safety and my freedom of movement."
Jehan Perera, a political analyst in Colombo, called the military presence at the hotel "absolutely unprecedented."
Fonseka remains popular with the troops he led to victory against the Tamil Tigers, and the government is worried that he might claim electoral fraud and then try to rally his former soldiers, Perera said.
People hit the streets in celebration, setting off fireworks, waving Sri Lankan flags and holding up posters of a smiling Rajapaksa. Policemen at intersections smiled and waved at the revelers. But the troop deployment also meant the capital remained tense.
With nearly all ballots counted, Rajapaksa had won 5.9 million votes, or 58 percent, to Sarath Fonseka's 4.1 million, or 40 percent, according to state TV. Turnout was about 70 percent. The president now must rebuild the country after last year's successful offensive to destroy the Tamil Tiger separatists after 25 years of conflict.
As the returns came in, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake Hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, gathered inside with Fonseka, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
"We don't know what's their motive, and as a protective measure we have deployed troops around the hotel, and people who go in and come out are being checked," Nanayakkara told The Associated Press. He said there were no plans to arrest Fonseka.
But, in a letter to the election commission, Fonseka said the troops were preventing him from leaving. Three of his employees were arrested and he feared arrest himself, he said. "I ask you to order the police and the relevant security authorities to ensure my safety and my freedom of movement."
Jehan Perera, a political analyst in Colombo, called the military presence at the hotel "absolutely unprecedented."
Fonseka remains popular with the troops he led to victory against the Tamil Tigers, and the government is worried that he might claim electoral fraud and then try to rally his former soldiers, Perera said.
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