Lanka:Tamil alliance not in presidential race

Twenty two candidates would fight the upcoming Sri Lankan Presidential election to be held on January 26, 2010. The Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake, said here on Thursday, that 22 out of the 23 nominations were in order.

Among the nominations accepted were those of incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa representing the 26-party United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance; and retired army General Sarath Fonseka, representing the 18-party New Democratic Front.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main party of the Lankan Tamils of the North and the East, did not file a nomination and is said to be thinking of supporting one of the main candidates, namely Mahinda Rajapaksa and Sarath Fonseka.

But a TNA dissident, Kanakalingam Sivajilingam, filed his nomination, which was accepted. He said that the voice of the Lankan Tamils would have to be heard in the elections. Two persons aligned with the UPFA, Sarath Kongahage, a presidential advisor, and Mira Mohideen Mohammad Mustafa alias “My Own” Mustafa, Deputy Minister for Higher Education, also decided to contest to project the Muslim view.

OBJECTION TO FONSEKA REJECTED: Sarath Kongahage objected to the candidature of Fonseka on the grounds that he was not a Lankan citizen but an American Green Card holder. But the objection was negated on the grounds that no supporting documentary evidence was presented.

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