Candidates on crusade

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

6,151 candidates to contest for 196 seats in 17 August poll
Ex-President contesting Parliament seat unprecedented; will be
highlight of election
President Sirisena refuses to break his silence on nomination for
Rajapaksa
Champika appointed UNFGG General Secretary; pledges to
continue 8 January struggle
Anura Yapa says Mahinda is district leader for Kurunegala
Interesting line up in National Lists; JVP produces the best
By Dharisha Bastians
The 17 August Parliamentary election officially kicked off after nominations
closed at noon yesterday, with all major political parties throwing their hat
in the ring to win seats in Sri Lankas 15th Parliament.
According to the nomination lists handed over at the district secretariats by
noon yesterday, 6,151 candidates will compete for 196 seats in the
countrys 225-member Legislature next month.
Battle lines have been drawn in what promises to be a tightly-fought
election, with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa ready to make a major
political comeback and a newly-energised United National Party and the
broad alliance it leads promising to defeat him for the second time this
year. In an unprecedented development, the retired President will seek a
seat in Parliament, leading the UPFAs Kurunegala District list. Rajapaksa
loyalists in the UPFA have already pledged to campaign for his election as
prime minister, even though President Maithripala Sirisena on 30 June ruled
out nominating him as the partys prime ministerial hopeful.
I promise to work to root out corruption and deceit, create a peaceful
society and prioritise national security, the former President told
supporters in Kurunegala yesterday.
Rajapaksa told Reuters by telephone yesterday that he and President
Sirisena would be leading the UPFA polls campaign.
Today, people want change. I am leading the campaign with President
Sirisena as the Chairman of the party to form a Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led
Government, the former President told Reuters after he handed in
nomination papers.
The decision to allow Mahinda Rajapaksa to contest the election has irked

millions of voters who elected President Sirisena to office and disillusioned

key ministers and political activists who fought hard for his victory in
January.

The President, who has remained silent on the issue for over a week now, is
being accused of betrayal by his staunchest allies. Yesterday the
Presidential Media Unit denied speculation that President Sirisena was
scheduled to issue a statement after the deadline for nominations had
lapsed.
Former Sirisena aides told the Daily FT last weekend that the President was
set to issue a shocking statement at the close of the nominations period,
widely speculated to be an announcement that he was quitting as leader of
the UPFA.
The President is also coming under heavy criticism from former allies for
permitting his party to grant nominations to several former MPs remanded
over corruption charges, including Johnston Fernando and Hambantotas
infamous toy pistol mayor Eraj Fernando on the UPFA list.
Three members of the Rajapaksa family Namal Rajapaksa, Chamal
Rajapaksa and Nirupama Rajapaksa will also contest from the Hambantota
District.
However, the UPFA declined to give nominations to notorious former MPs
Duminda Silva, Sajin Vaas Gunewardane, Sarana Gunewardane and Mervyn
Silva. Pressure has been mounted over the weekend by Kolonnawa
supporters and Buddhist monks on the UPFA to grant Duminda Silva a

nomination.
Former President Rajapaksa will contest in the Kurunegala District, the
islands third largest district, to raise his chances to claim the title of prime
minister if the UPFA wins the polls.
SLFP General Secretary Anura Priyadarshana Yapa handed over nominations
for the UPFA at the Kurunegala District Secretariat yesterday.
Actually it is President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is district leader. I am the
deputy, Yapa told reporters at the Secretariat.
Energy Minister and JHU strongman Champika Ranawaka, who has been
named General Secretary of the United National Front for Good Governance,
which will be registered as a political alliance only post-poll, said there was
work left to do to make the 8 January struggle meaningful.
The political decisions we made in the past allowed us to bring real change
to this country. We were able to restore democracy and root out nepotism,
autocracy and corruption, Ranawaka said when he arrived at the Colombo
District Secretariat to hand over nominations yesterday.
The UPFA will hold its maiden rally in Anuradhapura on 17 July. The UNP
kicks off its election campaign with a rally in Kandy today.
In the National Lists of the leading parties there were old and new faces,
both which drew criticism from political analysts. The JVPs list was widely
commended for containing a host of professionals.

Mahinda claims people want change

and he is leading it with Maithri
Reuters: A coalition led by the President has nominated war-time leader Mahinda Rajapaksa to
run in elections next month, official documents showed on Monday, with allies saying he will
stand for the post of prime minister.
President Maithripala Sirisena defeated Rajapaksa in a bitterly fought election in January. He
was forced to give the former leader the nomination in the face of strong demands from his
party or risk a split.
Rajapaksas crushing of a 26-year Tamil Tiger insurgency in 2009 won him support among the
island nations Sinhalese majority, and he still has a strong following. He becomes Sri Lankas
first defeated leader to seek a legislative seat.

Today, people wants a change. Im leading the campaign with President Sirisena as the
Chairman of the party to form a Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led Government, Mahinda
Rajapaksa told Reuters by phone after handing over the nomination documents.
Rajapaksa will stand in the countrys third-largest electoral district, Kurunegala, where most
voters have relatives in the military. The elections are set for 17 August.
Rajapaksas allies say if elected, he would immediately resume Chinese projects suspended by
the Sirisena Government.
Sirisena is re-examining certain projects in which China has invested, including a $1.4-billion
port city in the capital, Colombo. China has already built a seaport and airport in Sri Lankas
south, raising fears it is seeking influence in a country where neighbouring India has deep ties.
If his bid is successful, Rajapaksa will have more powers than any of his predecessors, after
Sirisena enhanced some of the powers of the post with reforms in April. Sirisena will still have
the power of a veto.
Sirisena, a former minister in Rajapaksas administration, defected last year to run for
president, promising fresh elections in 2015. The Parliamentary election comes after months of
deadlock in the legislature, as a six-month-old coalition Government cobbled together by
Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has struggled to pass key political reforms.
Wickremesinghe leads the centre-right United National Party (UNP), Sirisena the rival centreleft SLFP. Rajapaksa will run as part of an SLFP-led coalition, also headed by Sirisena.
Rajapaksa and his regime still face a United Nations war crimes investigation. A report on
alleged rights abuses in the final phase of the war is due in September.

Ranil, Mahinda to meet Kandy

Chief Prelates today

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa will travel to
Kandy today for meetings with the Chief Prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters.
Wickremesinghe will also attend the UNPs maiden election rally in the hill capital today.
-Posted by Thavam