LTTE Duplicity in the Presidential Stakes of 2005
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The presidential elections of 2005 saw two candidates before the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. On the one hand there was Mahendra Percival Rajapakse aligned with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna(JVP) and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JVP) contesting on a Sinhala hard – line platform .
On the other hand , there was Ranil Wickremasinghe supported by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Up Country Peoples Front (UCPF) and Western Peoples Front (WPF) contesting on a moderate platform.
Rajapakse winning meant a victory for the chauvinist forces among the majority community. It also meant farewell to the fragile peace process and a return to war , this time in search of an “honourable peace”.
A victory for Wickremasinghe too did not guarantee definite peace but it certainly held out the prospects of a negotiated settlement.
Besides a defeat for Wickremasinghe guaranteed one sure thing. The Sinhala hawks would be on the ascendant which in turn would make the Country descend into strife and chaos. [Read full article in Federalidea.com]
Related: Did LTTE have secret deal with Mahinda to enforce boycott?
July 10th, 2007