The Lanka Academic
 
FEBRUARY 4, 2010 EST, USA
 
QUAERE VERUM
 
VOL. 10, NO. 304
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2010 Election Results
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Headline Summary
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Sri Lankan leftist party to go to court on presidential poll
Xinhua, feb 5. Sri Lankan leftist party JVP or the People's Liberation Front said on Thursday that it would go to the Supreme Court against the results of last week's presidential election which saw the opposition's common candidate former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka being defeated by the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa with a large majority.

JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters that they accepted Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake's challenge to go to court without further delay.

Dissanayake on Wednesday urged the opposition or any other party who did not accept the election results as accurate to file a legal action within three weeks from the announcement of the election result in accordance with Sri Lanka's Elections law. More...Discuss this story
Published: Thu Feb 4 22:01:14 EST 2010

Sore winners How not to celebrate a victory - Opinion
Economist, Feb 5. OPTIMISTS hoped that, after Mahinda Rajapaksa’s stunning victory in Sri Lanka’s presidential election on January 26th, he might be magnanimous to his opponents and reassure citizens worried about the erosion of their civil liberties. He defeated his main opponent, Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of his army by the huge margin of 17 percentage points. With the war against the Tamil Tigers behind him, and seven more years of presidency ahead, Mr Rajapaksa could afford to be generous. But instead, his government has launched a sweeping crackdown, suggesting it remains paranoid about dissent, and fretful about a possible military coup. More...Discuss this story
Published: Thu Feb 4 22:43:05 EST 2010 Back to the top
Fractious Sri Lanka seeks unity
Al Jazeera, Feb 5. Sri Lanka's president has called on the country's ethnic Tamils to help ease tensions, as the country marks its first independence day since the end of a 25-year civil war.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, speaking at a ceremony in the central city of Kandy on Thursday, indicated there would be no self-determination for Tamils, but called on them to work with the government.

"Let's solve our problems ourselves through discussions," he said in the Tamil language.

But Suren Surendiran, a senior member of the British Tamils Forum in London, dismissed Rajapaksa's claim to want to resolve ethnic tensions.

"He's been saying that forever," he told Al Jazeera. More...Discuss this story
Published: Thu Feb 4 22:44:04 EST 2010 Back to the top

Rajapaksa formula for solving Tamil issue
 ENS, Feb 5. COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said that the solution to the Tamil problem lies in establishing village-level democratic institutions rather than ethnicity-based units such as the Provincial Councils... Back to the top
Sri Lankan fighting leaves a gruesome legacy
 smu, feb 5. The guns fell silent more than eight months ago but the brutal conclusion to Sri Lanka's civil war is still being felt by Tamils caught up in the conflict... Back to the top
Commonwealth takes centre stage in Colombo
 Times, Feb 5. It is rare for the Commonwealth to have a chance to play a decisive role on the world stage, but last week’s disputed presidential election in Sri Lanka is one such opportunity... Back to the top
Sri Lanka still not at peace on independence day
 BBC, Feb 5. Sri Lanka's newly re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been celebrating the country's independence day, the first since the end of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels... Back to the top
Tamils won't be forced ashore: Jakarta
 smu, February 5. Indonesia has denied it will force ashore by this weekend 240 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have spent almost four months holed up on a boat in a Javan port... Back to the top
Rajapaksa asks Tamils to sort differences through dialogue
 PTI, Feb 4. Colombo, Feb 4 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today asked the Tamils to work with the government to settle their differences and not fall prey to machinations of a section of the diaspora which still supported the LTTE... Back to the top
Sri Lanka President Vows to Regain Progress Lost In War
 NYT, Feb 4. KANDY, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's newly re-elected president vowed on Thursday to regain the progress lost in a quarter-century war with the Tamil Tigers separatists by boosting the country's economy and unifying its people... Back to the top
SRI LANKA: Gov't Defends Detention of Suspected Tamil Rebels
 IPS, Feb 4. COLOMBO, Feb 3 (IPS) - Sri Lanka is rejecting claims that some 11,000 people who surrendered as suspected Tamil rebels just before the rebels were defeated in May 2009 are being held incommunicado or risk being tortured... Back to the top
Attacks on journalists on the rise after elections
 ifex, feb 4. Arrests and intimidation of Sri Lankan journalists continue in a post-election crackdown, especially on critics who sided with the opposition, report the Free Media Movement (FMM) and other IFEX members... Back to the top
Vote chief rejects Sri Lanka rigging charges
 afp, Feb 3. COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's election commissioner on Wednesday rejected allegations that last week's presidential vote was rigged by incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse but raised questions over unfair campaigning... Back to the top
Sri Lankan opposition protests election results
 AP, Feb 3. COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of Sri Lanka's capital Wednesday to protest the results of the recent presidential election, which they say was marred by fraud... Back to the top
Sri Lanka holds 37 over 'plot to assassinate president'
 BBC, Feb 3. Thirty-seven people are being held in Sri Lanka in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa, state-owned media say... Back to the top
Sri Lankan Government Opposition Supporters Protest Over Alleged Election Fraud
 AHN, Feb 3. Colombo, Sri Lanka (AHN) - Thousands of Sri Lankan opposition supporters protested against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government on Wednesday... Back to the top
India to assist Sri Lanka on developing airfield
 UPI, Feb 3. Colombo, Feb 3 (PTI) India will assist Sri Lanka in reconstructing ports and developing the Palaly airfield in the war-ravaged northern parts of the island, High Commissioner Ashok K Kantha said today... Back to the top
Lanka detains 37 in 'Rajapaksa assassination bid'
 Rediff, Feb 3. Sri Lankan authorities are questioning 37 persons, including a brigadier, a colonel and some army deserters, detained for their alleged role in a plot to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa... Back to the top
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