Sri Lanka - interview

Army captures another town, parties predict election

by Rosslyn Hyams

Article published on the 2008-12-02 Latest update 2008-12-02 14:30 TU

Somawansa Amarsinghe
(Photo: JVP)

The Sri Lankan army has taken control of another town in the north of the island from Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels, according to the Defence Ministry. The town, Kokavil, is 12 kilometres from the rebel HQ, Kilinocchi. Political parties are preparing for an early election, as the government tries to capitalise on the military gains.

The LTTE admits that it has lost ground to government troops, but its leader Vellupilai Prabhakaran has vowed to fight on.

The ongoing government military offensive has led troops closer to the LTTE political headquarters in Kilinocchi.

Some Sri Lankan political parties are preparing for an early general election, believing that the government will not wait for scheduled elections in 2010 because of the military advances.

“The continuing government military gains in the north of the Sri Lanka could lead to early elections,” Somawansa Amarsinghe, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or People’s Liberation Front, a left-wing nationalist party told RFI.

Amarsinghe's party was a member of the victorious coalition, along with President Mahinda Rajapakse's party in the 2004 election, but is no longer in the government.

Amarsinghe believes that "the government thinks it is gaining the support of the people due to its military success in the north” and will go for an early poll to build on that popularity.  

He predicts that the support will evaporate because of the effects of the budget currently being discussed in parliament.

"According to the budget, the government has imposed a lot of taxes," he said. "So there will be a lot of difficulties for the people to meet their expenses, so the cost of living will go up. As a result the government will lose support among the people." 

Meanwhile, The Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, issued a statement calling for a “strengthening of dialogue and negotiations” after a meeting between Pope Benedict XVI on Monday and President Rajapakse.

Between seven and eight per cent of the population of Sri Lanka is Christian, most of them Catholic.