More than 1.7 million voters were expected to cast ballots yesterday in a key provincial election in Sri Lanka, seen as a test of the ruling coalition’s popularity after defeating the Tamil Tiger separatists.
Government troops crushed the rebel group in May, ending nearly three decades of civil war.
That military victory boosted the popularity of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s coalition United People’s Freedom Alliance among ethnic majority Sinhalese.
Voting started early yesterday for the assembly in Rajapaksa’s native Sinhalese-majority province.
Fifty-two political parties and independent groups have fielded 1,091 candidates for 53 seats on the provincial council. Results are expected today.
The ruling alliance already controls seven of the country’s nine provinces with large majorities.
After yesterday’s vote, only the northern province — the former battle zone where parts were controlled by the rebels — will have yet to vote.
Rajapaksa’s main rival, the United National Party (UNP), had favored negotiations with the Tamil Tigers but has been largely sidelined after the government’s successful military campaign.
The opposition parties have accused the government of using military victories for political gain and claimed the ruling coalition misused state properties during the election.
“This isn’t a fair election,” said Tissa Attanayake, UNP’s general secretary, accusing the government of using state resources for campaigning.
Sri Lankan Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena dismissed the opposition accusations, saying “they are trying to find excuses for their defeat even before the results are announced.”
Tamil rebels fought to create a separate homeland for the ethnic minority Tamils. About 75 percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million people are ethnic Sinhalese and 18 percent are Tamils.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
Czech intelligence chief Michal Koudelka has spent decades uncovering Russian spy networks, sabotage attempts and disinformation campaigns against Europe. Speaking in an interview from a high-security compound on the outskirts of Prague, he is now warning allies that pushing Kyiv to accept significant concessions to end the war in Ukraine would only embolden the Kremlin. “Russia would spend perhaps the next 10 to 15 years recovering from its huge human and economic losses and preparing for the next target, which is central and eastern Europe,” said Koudelka, a major general who heads the country’s Security Information Service. “If Ukraine loses, or is forced
THIRD IN A ROW? An expert said if the report of a probe into the defense official is true, people would naturally ask if it would erode morale in the military Chinese Minister of National Defense Dong Jun (董軍) has been placed under investigation for corruption, a report said yesterday, the latest official implicated in a crackdown on graft in the country’s military. Citing current and former US officials familiar with the situation, British newspaper the Financial Times said that the investigation into Dong was part of a broader probe into military corruption. Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the Chinese embassy in Washington replied to a request for confirmation yesterday. If confirmed, Dong would be the third Chinese defense minister in a row to fall under investigation for corruption. A former navy