02/24/2010
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Agence France-Presse
"What I see is a slide into autocratic rule," said the head of the private Centre for Policy Alternatives think-tank, Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu.
"There is a stifling of any kind of opposition and the arrest of Fonseka is the most conspicuous aspect of that," he told AFP.
James Manor, a Sri Lanka analyst at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in London, said Rajapakse seemed "intoxicated with triumphalism."
"I think it's clear he wants to establish semi-autocratic rule," Manor said.
"He won't dispense with elections or anything, but the way in which he will use his power will be extremely assertive and illiberal, disregarding the opinion of many in Sri Lanka who favour democratic restraint."
02/22/2010
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Daily Mirror
General Sarath Fonseka is to contest the upcoming General Elections from the Colombo district under the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance (DNA), his wife Anoma Fonseka told reporters this morning. The General is currently in military custody.
02/21/2010
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The Sunday Leader
Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has declared that he will not tolerate the widespread abuse of state property seen during January’s presidential election...
However, despite Dissanayake making a similar order during January’s presidential election, misuse of state resources was unprecedented.
02/15/2010
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The Hindu
IRIN quoted the secretary of the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, ULM Halaldeen as conceding that there had been a delay in the resettlement process in the run-up to the presidential election on January 26.
However, he said all the IDPs should be resettled by the time the parliamentary election is held, and insisted they would be able to vote. “Come April, they all will be resettled in their own homes and leading more normal lives,” Halaldeen told IRIN. “This is a process and we are continuing to resettle people at our earliest,” he said.
As of February 5, there were more than 106,000 IDPs remaining in camps in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna, according to the UN, citing government agents. About 160,000 IDPs have been returned to their districts of origin, while 29,060 people have been released from temporary camps into host families and elders’ homes.