Sarath Fonseka visits war-torn Jaffna province to woo Tamils

Sri Lanka's former military chief and main challenger in the upcoming Presidential polls Sarath Fonseka today took his campaign to Jaffna, once the heartland of his erstwhile battle adversaries the Tamil Tigers.
    
Fonseka, who is the main opponent of incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the election scheduled for January 26, toured Jaffna, visiting the sacred Nallur Kandaswamy temple, and also called on the Bishop of the province.
    
During the meeting with Rt Rev Thomas Soundaranayagam at his residence, Fonseka also spoke to representatives of civil organisations in the peninsula, Tamilnet reported.

Both Fonseka and Rajapaksa belong to the dominant Sinhala community, and this is likely to divide the main Lankan votebank. Hence the former top general's visit to woo the Tamils is considered significant.
    
Fonseka was accompanied by opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. "The visit was at the invitation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)," the main opposition United National Party said on its website.
    
Prior to embarking on the visit, Fonseka in his New Year message said: "As we stand at the entrance of a new decade, people look forward to a bright future following the war victory accomplished by defeating the menace of terrorism seven months ago".

"Let not these hopes of the people be dashed to the ground," he said.

Fonseka will address election meetings in the northern provinces and will also visit the Tamil-dominated eastern provinces beginning this week end.

He is scheduled to address public rallies at Jaffna, Ampara, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee and Batticaloa during his campaigning.

Rajapaksa had last month addressed campaign meetings in the north and the east.
    
In his New Year message, Fonseka also hailed the Army's victory over the LTTE but rued the government's failure to bring benefits of the war victory to the people.

"It was a year of immense triumph on the one hand, winning the war, while on the other we lost tragically on not exploiting the opportunities," Fonseka said.

"The past years were a dark era plagued by terrorism. People made immense sacrifices. Hence, it is government's primary duty to honestly look for avenues to confer the benefits of the war victory on the people after the war is over," he said.

He also called on the Archbishop of Colombo Rt Rev Malcolm Ranjith on New Year's day to seek his blessings.
    
Fonseka was also accompanied by Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem, Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganeshan and JVP leaders Somawansa Amerasinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

"The former Chief Justice Sarath Silva and Auditor General Nihal Sri Amarasekera who conducted investigations against bribery and corruption was also part of the team that visited Jaffna," the UNP website said.