Word: ltte
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...fare well in the north and the east, home to most of the island's Tamil population. Their votes went to Fonseka, a sign of Rajapaksa's most serious task: winning the confidence of Sri Lanka's Tamil minority. During the height of the Tamil separatist insurgency, the LTTE controlled much of that territory, and Tamils there are still anxious and fearful about how they will be treated by the man who crushed the dream of a Tamil homeland. Rajapaksa sounded a conciliatory tone after results were announced: "I am the president of the those who voted...
...race between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his challenger, the former army commander Sarath Fonseka, is unexpectedly close. Rajapaksa won the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a brutal ethnic separatist group that once controlled much of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. But Fonseka, a hero in his own right in the same war, is a formidable opponent. He represents a patchwork coalition of opposition parties united in their antipathy to Rajapaksa, whom they say has disregarded the rights of the Tamil minority and indulged in blatant crony capitalism.(Watch a video about the final days...
...elections were called early by Rajapaksa, who is seeking to validate his victory against the LTTE. Instead, many voters are taking the opportunity to send him a message that they are still suffering economically. Karu de Silva, a resident of Colombo and father of two, says he plans to vote for Fonseka because he feels that Rajapaksa's government has not given families any relief from rising prices. "This year I spent probably twice as much as I spent last year on the books for the new school year," de Silva says. "We need some kind of help...
...Rajapaksa administration has repeatedly said they will all have a chance to vote, but only 35,000 of the displaced have been registered according to officials at People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, the country's foremost election-monitoring body. In areas that were most firmly under LTTE control, there have been no elections or voter rolls in years. "There is a chance that a lot of people could be disenfranchised simply because they are not in the list," Hettiarachchi says...
...stiff challenge from his former army commander, Sarath Fonseka. There has been some spirited journalism published during the campaign. On Dec. 13, the Sunday Leader carried an explosive interview with Fonseka in which he alleged that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, had ordered the shooting of surrendering LTTE members. Rajapaksa has denied the allegation, and Fonseka has since backpedaled on the allegation. Several news organizations have also reported on the burgeoning black market for rations distributed in displaced-persons camps. But with a few exceptions, the coverage of the elections has been limited to the shifting alliances...