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Violence looms in aftermath of tense Sri Lankan election

Sydney Morning Herald - January 27, 2010

Matt Wade, Colombo – Sri Lanka was on edge yesterday as voters braced for violent clashes following the first presidential election since the end of the civil war.

The bitter campaign has been marred by conflict between supporters of the two main candidates, the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the former army chief General Sarath Fonseka. People casting their votes in Colombo yesterday told the Herald they expected more bloodshed once the booths closed and counting got under way.

A Muslim voter, Muhammad Iqbal, said that post-poll clashes between Rajapaksa and Fonseka supporters were inevitable. "I think many more people will die after the election."

Yesterday's election was the first nationwide poll since the Government regained control of the whole country in May when the army defeated Tamil Tiger rebels after 26 years of civil war.

It has been the country's most violent election period in a decade. Independent monitors have identified more than 900 incidents of campaign-related violence. Six deaths, 12 shootings and hundreds of injuries have been reported.

The Government deployed 68,000 police across the country yesterday to provide security for voters, and today has been declared a public holiday in an apparent effort to keep people off the streets should tension boil over.

The rhetoric from both the Fonseka and Rajapaksa camps became increasingly shrill during the bitterly fought campaign. There have been rumours in Colombo for weeks that the Government is going to use force to prevent a Fonseka victory.

The general alleged on Saturday that Government members had made preparations to nullify the election result, should he win, and use the army to stay in power.

The Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, hit back on behalf of the President on Monday, saying that General Fonseka had a military force of up to 800 men at his disposal.

In a bizarre twist, General Fonseka was unable to cast a vote in the poll because his name was missing from the voter list. Commentary in state media alleged this was because he held citizenship of a foreign country – General Fonseka holds a US green card. However, legal experts rejected this explanation as misleading.

"The Government is trying to use this to mislead the public at the last minute," General Fonseka said.

The mud-slinging has added to tensions and raised the possibility that the result will be contested.

Even before polls opened yesterday, a series of explosions rocked the Tamil-dominated northern city of Jaffna. About 2am grenades were detonated in six polling stations across the city, sources in Jaffna said.

A mob also attacked the home and office of a prominent Tamil opposition figure and Fonseka supporter, Suresh Premachandran. The buildings were damaged in the attacks but no one was hurt.

Before yesterday's attacks there was relative calm in the north. Polling in Jaffna was said to be unaffected by the attacks.

If the votes cast by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority are split between the two popular Sinhalese candidates, then the Tamil and Muslim minorities in the north and east of the country could be decisive.

An election-related shooting was reported yesterday in the southern city of Galle, General Fonseka's home district, and on Monday night a grenade exploded near Kandy, in the central mountains.

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