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Sri Lankan general woos Tamils in election challenge to President

Sydney Morning Herald - January 23, 2010

Matt Wade, Colombo – Two months ago, Sarath Fonseka commanded one of the world's most experienced armies. Now he is giving the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, a run for the top civilian post.

General Fonseka, 59, the former chief of the army, seems to have made this rapid transformation from military leader to presidential candidate with ease. His popularity among the urban middle class was on show at a political rally in Colombo on Wednesday night.

Two large portraits of the general flanked the stage: in one he was dressed in full uniform, in the other he wore a traditional white tunic buttoned to the neck.

Warm-up speakers ridiculed Mr Rajapaksa over economic policy and alleged corruption before the star attraction arrived in a BMW flanked by military vehicles filled with commandos. General Fonseka was taking no chances – a mobile bullet-proof glass screen was erected in front of his seat and the podium was ringed by soldiers, Kalashnikovs at the ready.

He has already survived an assassination attempt when a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber hit Colombo's army headquarters in 2006, killing nine people and seriously injuring him.

Yesterday, a bomb destroyed a car and severely damaged the Colombo home of one of his allies, Tiran Alles. Mr Alles and his family were unhurt.

During his speech, General Fonseka hammered home his message: Sri Lanka needs change. "Things will be different from the day I take office next week," he told the crowd.

General Fonseka has been withering about his opponent, whom he accuses of trashing democracy.

"We have done away with the terrorists," he said earlier in the campaign. "But now you can't leave the country in the hands of a tin-pot dictator."

Mr Rajapaksa had been cruising towards victory in the election on Tuesday. But General Fonseka's candidacy has invigorated the campaign and transformed the poll from a landslide to a close call.

He has the support of opposition parties including the centre-right UNP, the leftist JVP and Tamil parties united in their hostility towards Mr Rajapaksa.

General Fonseka's military career was dominated by the army's 26-year struggle with the Tamil Tigers, and he had a reputation as a tough battlefield commander.

He became army chief in 2005 and is credited with masterminding the final defeat of the Tigers in May.

The main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, is backing General Fonseka and he is eager to win Tamil votes. Like Mr Rajapaksa, he is a Sinhalese Buddhist from the far south, and with the Sinhalese majority apparently split between the two, minority votes could prove decisive.

General Fonseka has developed policies designed to woo Tamils, including a commitment to release within one month those suspected of being Tiger cadres against whom there is no evidence.

More than 10,000 suspected former Tamil Tiger cadres are detained in different detention centres.

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