Hyderabad:The eighth Sri Lanka Presidential elections will take place on 16 November. This time the island nation will witness the participation of a record number of candidates. However, in a major surprise, no sitting President, Prime Minister and leader of opposition are in the fray.
Yet this time a record 35 candidates have filed nominations, nearly twice as many as participated in 2015 polls. Former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa of newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and deputy leader of ruling United National Party (UNP) Sajith Premadasa are believed to be in the top contenders.
Here are the key candidates to watch out ahead of Sri Lankan Presidential election Gotabaya Rajapaksa, younger brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, faces war crime charges over his involvement in the war with Tamil separatist group LTTE and feared across the island nation, while Premadasa is admired across the country for his clean image.
While SLPP is counting on Buddhist Sinhala nationals, which constitute 70 per cent of Sri Lanka's total population, Premadasa's UNP is promising development and using his assassinated father late president Ranasinghe Premadasa's name as vote bank.
Both the SSLP and UNP have included issues like slow economic growth, national security, endemic corruption and deep ethnic and religious divisions in their agenda to mobilise voters in their favour.
Out of Sri Lanka's total population, 12 per cent is Tamil, 10 per cent is Muslim and 7 per cent is Christian. These minority groups' votes are believed to play a key role in the presidential elections. Infamous for his excessive against Sinhalas, this may emerge as a boomerang for Rajapaksa when it comes to minority groups' vote.
While Christian voters are believed to support Rajapaksa after he promised a fresh probe into Easter attack in April that claimed 259 lives, Muslim votes are expected to go in favour of Premadasa.
From Indian perspective, this election is crucial as it needs to maintain good diplomatic ties with its neighbour. With China getting closer to Sri Lanka, it will be even more critical for New Delhi to maintain a cordial equilibrium with Colombo.
Rajapaksa is a pro-Congress and known to have a soft corner towards China; on the other Premadasa wants to maintain good ties with all neighbours including India and committed to work as a team to ensure that Sri Lanka meets its voluntary international commitments.
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Rajapaksa has already taken a strident stand against India, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi government of not understanding Sri Lanka's concerns. He made it clear that he will work towards restoring relations with China if he wins the elections. Beijing is the top lender to Sri Lanka.
“We had a very good understanding with the earlier government in India, especially its bureaucrats. We were able to get their fullest support in defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). But the new government, especially the bureaucrats of the Narendra Modi government, looks at Sri Lanka in a different way,” Rajapaksa said.
"China is looking at us differently. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa becomes the president he will set the record right and restore the relationship to where it was," Rajapaksa’s adviser Palitha Kohona said.
Also Read: 'Post-Easter attack, we're still waiting to get justice'
On the contrary UNP leader Premadasa went on record saying, "Considering our geographic location, our foreign policy will be focused on working with all nations in partnership, to transform Sri Lanka into a hub in the Indian Ocean, with a knowledge-based, competitive, social market economy. For this purpose, open trade, freedom of navigation, and rules-based world order are essential. Sri Lanka will remain firmly committed to these principles."
