News: foreign policy

The last two months in Sri Lanka have seen increasing international pressure coupled with domestic struggles against Mahinda Rajapakse’s government. In fact, in the post-war context, other than perhaps General Sarath Fonseka’s challenge during the presidential elections of January 2010, which split the war coalition in the south, these recent weeks have been among the most worrying of times for the Rajapakse regime. International criticism centring on questions of post-war accountability and political reconciliation has suddenly coincided with anti-government domestic mobilisations by a range of actors – from workers challenging the government’s pension schemes, estate workers calling for wage hikes, university teachers moving on strike actions and student unions opposing leadership training by the military for university entrants. While President Rajapakse’s strategy might be to wade through these difficult times until the criticism and resistance begin to subside, the question remains as to how a government that has won thumping victories in presidential, parliamentary and local government elections over the last two years has had to face such mounting challenges.