SRI LANKAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001648 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SA/INS USPACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 17 REF: COLOMBO 1639 ¶1. (U) On September 19 Election Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake announced that presidential elections will be held on November 17. Nominations are to be filed on October ¶7. So far, only the two largest parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of incumbent President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the United National Party (UNP) have announced their candidates: Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, respectively. ¶2. (U) The SLFP will hold its first official election rally in Colombo on September 20. Joining Rajapakse on the podium, according to SLFP sources, will be representatives from the Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The Buddhist nationalist Jathika Hela Urumayu (JHU),which, like the JVP, has pledged to support Rajapakse's candidacy in exchange for commitments to uphold the "unitary" nature of the Sri Lankan state, is not planning to appear on stage with Rajapakse at the rally. UNP candidate Wickremesinghe held his own rally in Colombo on September 18. Members of the pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tamil National Alliance, which is widely expected to back the UNP, traveled to Kilinochchi last week to huddle with the LTTE leadership before formally announcing its support for either candidate. ¶3. (SBU) The rally takes place against a backdrop of continued controversy within the SLFP regarding Rajapakse's decision to ally himself with the jingoist JVP and JHU--effectively turning his back on Kumaratunga's approach to the peace process. The battle lines may already be forming: Kumaratunga allies Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama and Buddhist Affairs Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake have turned down invitations to speak in support of Rajapakse's nomination at the September 20 rally, according to SLFP sources. Kumaratunga, who is not expected to return from overseas until later this week, jumped head first into the intra-party fray with remarks before the Asia Society in New York on September 15, reported in the local press, that negotiating a peaceful resolution to the conflict "will involve transforming the State from a unitary one to one that is plural and federal in nature"--a direct refutation of Rajapakse's commitment to his nationalist allies. The ongoing long-distance spitting match between the President and her anointed successor continues to fuel speculation that a more direct confrontation between the two SLFP leaders--with the President possibly angling to dump Rajapakse as the party's standard bearer--is brewing. LUNSTEAD