Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga on Tuesday said she suspects there would be some skulduggery on the day of presidential polls — scheduled for January 8.
“We have to be prepared for that, it happened even during the Fonseka election,” she said, referring to the 2010 presidential polls in which former commander of the Sri Lankan army Sarath Fonseka challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
On how she proposed to tackle possible violence, Ms. Kumaratunga said it would have to be countered using various measures. “We are used to violence in this country, as you are in India,” she told The Hindu .
On the possible role of the international community, in addition to election monitoring, she said foreign actors could perhaps talk to the government about carrying on free and fair elections, quickly adding: “but with this government, that falls on completely deaf ears.”
Ms. Kumaratunga, who kept away from active politics for the past nine years, announced her come back in November to support the joint opposition which is fielding Maithripala Sirisena — a former Health Minister with Mr. Rajapaksa — as the common candidate against Mr. Rajapaksa.
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