Click to play videoColombo: The man responsible for eliminating the LTTE and its chief are now looking to win Sri Lanka's Presidential election. On the 26th of January, Sri Lanka will witness a fight between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former army chief Sarath Fonseka for the nation's highest office.
Fonseka led the army to a victory against the LTTE. Now, on the political stage, he hopes to lead a disparate coalition in an island torn by conflict .
"I will ensure that the people affected by the war are resettled and can live with freedom and dignity," promised Fonseka during his campaign for the upcoming election.
One of the most interesting aspects of the general turned politician's political campaign is that it has the backing of the diverse political alliance in the country. It includes parties like the pro LTTE TNA to the leftist Sinhala nationalist JVP and the biggest of them all, the UNP.
“This is not a political alliance. This is a coming together of forces to defeat the corrupt rule of Rajapaksa,” says Sunil Handunnetti, JVP MP.
It is being widely anticipated that only the general who led the army to victory against the LTTE could foil President Rajapaksa’s bid to turn the war victory into an electoral wave. That is why even Ranil Wickremesinghe of the UNP is forgoing his own political ambitions to back the former general.
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