afp,  Sat Jan  2 03:46:13 EST 2010

    COLOMBO (AFP) – Sri Lanka's former military chief Sarath Fonseka took his presidential campaign Saturday to the ethnic heartland of the Tamil Tiger rebellion he helped crush last year.The defence ministry effectively blocked independent journalists travelling to Jaffna, even though the authorities had announced last month that travel restrictions had been withdrawn.
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- The Academic

"Fonseka petrol" "Fonseka diesel", and soon a "Concerned President" will have  "Fonseka rice" also as the Government panics with all sorts of idiotic comic measures to win. The arrogant untouchable air of the Government has now been brought down a notch. The Presidency is even using Muthiah Muralitharan in political ads on TV; but the SF ads are more emotional.

MR did not anticipate SF to be the candidate. So now we have two people of very strong stature and popularity washing dirty linen with a vindictive man and a leader who miscalculated his chances of winning because he did not anticipate the other man as his opposition.  

Government is in panic mode and no one can tell which way the election will go. The Tamil Estate, Colombo vote and Muslim vote will decide who wins.  As of now, most rank and file of the army will vote for SF along with their families.  This will be a massive shift from 2005.

 Think of the math:  150,000 plus soldiers and  immediate relatives and extended families. There is a quiet movement growing in the rural areas.

Here in Colombo, I heard the derisive comments about the sudden price cuts but Colombo has always gone to the UNP; the real battle in the WP will be in Gampaha District and in seats like Maharagama, Homagama, Kotte etc with the JHU vote.  But luckily for MR, his protagonist CBK is no longer in SL shooting her mouth off.  She can damage MR in Gampaha district, but looks like she has finally become a bit smart.

This election is going down to the wire with no prediction possible.  My own prediction?  Very small Advantage fo r MR with SF now gaining rapidly and the caste factor may play.  MR will have to hope the hostile Central Province(CP)  will vote more for him because last time CP was won by RW solely on the bassi of the Estate Tamil Indian Tamil Lankan vote. Now with SF breaking into Sinhala votes we will see a massive paradigm shift.

I hope that IF SF wins, he will not be a puppet to the UNP and JVP(Ranil is salivating at the idea of winning). The puppet master is definitely Ranil W.

The Government is panicking. Whoever wins will be 51% to 49% with possibly the "manaape" votes making a difference.  Good luck Sri Lankans!  The independent media like Sunday Times/Daily Mirror, and Leader are all backing SF. Swarnavahini is neutral with a pro MR bent but wait till Jan 15th or so and you will see people jumping camp and going with whoever will win.

SF shoots again

At a recently held meeting SF claimed that the army did not any equipment except for the bullets from this government. Those were purchased by CBK regime. He had to repair the guns and fight and win with old stuff.  


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MAC1

Those 150K army personnels will definietly support MR as they know how they sacroficed so much under othere governments and how MR has helped to win this war....   this will be a 55% for MR win

siwa_007 wrote:

Those 150K army personnels will definietly support MR as they know how they sacroficed so much under othere governments and how MR has helped to win this war....   this will be a 55% for MR win

Make it 65%!! If this is the case why hold elections... Why have all those Buriyani Dinners at Temple Trees
st Tax Payer expense.. The CARD BOARD cutouts.. The DeshaPremi Thugs.. And the little Thief in training Namal
prostituting the "artists", the cricketers... for Thathata Hetak at Rs100,000 an ad!! Where is this money coming
from??

RogerThis wrote:

As of now, most rank and file of the army will vote for SF along with their families.

Even after Fonseka blamed Shavendra Silva and 58 Division for the killing of Nadesan and Pulidevan?

Why do all the posters of Fonseka also feature Ranil?  Isn't that a form of self-sabotage??     


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If the only tool you have is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail.- Abraham Maslow

crazycat wrote:

siwa_007 wrote:

Those 150K army personnels will definietly support MR as they know how they sacroficed so much under othere governments and how MR has helped to win this war....   this will be a 55% for MR win

Make it 65%!! If this is the case why hold elections... Why have all those Buriyani Dinners at Temple Trees
st Tax Payer expense.. The CARD BOARD cutouts.. The DeshaPremi Thugs.. And the little Thief in training Namal
prostituting the "artists", the cricketers... for Thathata Hetak at Rs100,000 an ad!! Where is this money coming
from??

"Where is this money coming from?" is a million rupee question which only our friends in Bank of Ceylon and National Lotteries Board can answer.


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VOTER COORAY
"A nation is a collective enterprise - outside of that it is a gambling hall for the opportunism and adventurism of power."-Wole Soyinka

Taraki wrote:

Why do all the posters of Fonseka also feature Ranil?  

May be to show the contrast between a Winner and a perenial loser? [ We sri lankans are
very slow and therefore need graphical help ]

Seriously most people who support or would have supported SF have real issues with his fellow
travellers. Ranil , Hakim and Mangala are not my idea of a change for the better.

Taraki wrote:

Why do all the posters of Fonseka also feature Ranil?  Isn't that a form of self-sabotage??     

This is not self-sabotage. This is like
an exercise in self-elevation and self-preservation.
This is in a way like how congress
party in India won votes by hiding behind
the face of political novice Dr Manmohan Singh.
Only difference is Gen Fonseka is not a soft-spoken economist,
and his backers are not yet as powerful in
domestic politics as Congress.


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*I am not the only one*

rm7000 wrote:

Taraki wrote:

Why do all the posters of Fonseka also feature Ranil?  Isn't that a form of self-sabotage??     

This is not self-sabotage. This is like
an exercise of self-elevation. This is in a way like how congress
party in India won votes by hiding behind
the face of political novice Dr Manmohan Singh.
Only difference is Gen Fonseka is not an economist.

Factually incorrect:

Dr.Singh was the Finance Minister in the Rao Cabinet as a Rajya Sabha MP. During the elections when
the Congress came to power under Sonia no one expected Dr.Singh to be the PM and was not advertised
as such. Sonia did the smart thing by appointing Dr.Singh as the PM while remaining the power behind
the throne. The second time around in the recent elections Dr.Singh was pretty much projected as the
prospective PM and there was absolutely nothing "novice" about him this time around. In other words
it was a WYSIWYG elections.

On the other hand Sri Lankans voted for Mahinda despite the bribed boycott of the North. We never contended that
by voting for Mahinda we had to deal with his siblings, cousins, Nephews, Sons, Shiranthi's relatives and the other riff raff
such as Anarkali and the assorted bimbos.  As soon as the results were announced all sorts of Rajapakses started crawling out of the wood works..  7 Elevens.. etc etc and before we knew it the whole damn country is run by a Junta of brothers.

Today 70% of the government is held in the hands of the 4 brothers despite a cabinet of 100 odd Ministers. 90%
of the Sri Lankan State revenue comes from Taxes ( Direct and indirect) and where does that money end up??
Yep you guessed it.. To support the wastage of the Mega cabinet. Unprecedented amounts of taxes are levied
on such basic necessities such as baby milk powder .. LP gas.. even god damn exercise books  that life has become
unbearable for the common man.

The average Sri Lankan is very much grateful to MR for ridding the LTTE.. No argument there.. But they are tired
of the corruption and family bandysm that has been foisted on us in the name of fighting terrorism.

http://www.island.lk/2010/01/03/features14.html

Dear Crazycat,

I don't deny corruption as an issue
and that MR is on a backfoot in the matter,
as Fonseka is a newbie. I hope the
voters will vote for the man who can deliver.

Regarding Dr MMS when you said he is
not a political novice - have you ever heard him
talk ? He cannot handle the very complex,
volatile, hi-voltage politics in India. If Rao had
not picked him to be the finance minister, congress/Sonia
would not have known him. Sonia picked him
simply because MMS could be trusted not to
become ambitious, and to keep the seat warm for
her son to become future PM. In fact he never won in
elections/Lok Sabha polls (unbelievable). Day-to-day politics is
managed by a coterie of senior advisors. People still voted Cong
as all opposition parties were in shreds. Stability factor won out in the end.



Last edited by rm7000 on Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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*I am not the only one*

Quote:

The average Sri Lankan is very much grateful to MR for ridding the LTTE.. No argument there.. But they are tired
of the corruption and family bandysm that has been foisted on us in the name of fighting terrorism.

The end to the war against l.t.t.e has raised expectations.
War, refugees, rehabilitation, UN - all of this is under control and a thing of past.

MR has changed the scene of expectations for good. People want
more, and peope want it now. Should he not be given one chance
to govern in conditions he helped create ? A tough question
in a changed ground perhaps.


_________________
*I am not the only one*

rm7000 wrote:

Quote:

The average Sri Lankan is very much grateful to MR for ridding the LTTE.. No argument there.. But they are tired
of the corruption and family bandysm that has been foisted on us in the name of fighting terrorism.

The end to the war against l.t.t.e has raised expectations.
War, refugees, rehabilitation, UN - all of this is under control and a thing of past.

MR has changed the scene of expectations for good. People want
more, and peope want it now. Should he not be given one chance
to govern in conditions he helped create ? A tough question
in a changed ground perhaps.

The people of this country were told to go through immense hardships saying its all for ending the war. Very high taxes were levied on goods sometime more than the value of the actual product to finance the war and people did not get to the streets to protest because they knew how much this money is needed. The people tolerated even the loss of some of their rights, violation of constitution, death of journalists and breakdown in almost every sphere of governance thinking that things will be put to right after the war. But the ending of the war has made them realized that while the people made sacrifices the Rajapakse family has made a fortune. Corruption is rampant. Nothing since May has made them convinced that things will get better. 2 MP's have been made minister even after the start of the presidential campaign. Just look at the utter wastage of public money at temple trees  and MR's campaign and tell me things will be better? They see this as a battle between MR and SF and not one between MR and RW or UPFA vs UNP. Its a battle between two people who can make an argument in public that they won the battle. Its a virtual draw or a slight edge for SF on this score. But now the people have their focus on the stuff they sacrificed all this time and they don't see Rajapakse and his brothers as the people to deliver it.


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VOTER COORAY
"A nation is a collective enterprise - outside of that it is a gambling hall for the opportunism and adventurism of power."-Wole Soyinka

Taraki wrote:

Why do all the posters of Fonseka also feature Ranil?  Isn't that a form of self-sabotage??     

Well there is a 4 million UNP voter base and that is how SF could make sure he get that block of votes.

Yesterday I happened to listen to SLBC sinhala radio channel.
It all broadcasts patriotic songs and they stop the song in middle and play a patriotic statement made by Mahinda. Then song contines then later interrupted again for another Mahinda patriotic statement.

It gives a feeling like a pavement trader trying to sell his goods by over boasting about that product.