Top Lankan army general Fonseka quits, may run for presidency

[Darklord]

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff Sarath Fonseka, the architect of the military offensive that led to the annihilation of the LTTE, on Thursday quit his post and is widely tipped to be the opposition candidate for the presidential elections next year.

Fonseka's likely entry in the fray would pose a serious challenge to the re-election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was hoping for a cakewalk after the rebel Tamil Tigers were wiped out by the army in May.

"He (Fonseka) has given a letter seeking to relinquish his duties as chief of defence staff," defence spokesman and senior cabinet minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

"I have decided to retire from service. I will decide if I am going to enter politics once I officially hand over my uniform," the 58-year-old Army General told reporters after visiting a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya near Colombo.

Soon after the civil war ended in May, Fonseka, who was the army chief, was promoted as chief of defence staff, which is a largely ceremonial post.

Sri Lanka is set for parliamentary and presidential polls before April 2010. Media reports here had been suggesting over the last week that Fonseka has emerged as the consensus presidential candidate of an alliance of opposition parties. Fonseka has not commented on the reports.Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Top-Lankan-army-general-Fonseka-quits-may-run-for-presidency/articleshow/5223831.cms)

Looks like Gen Fonseka is going to cash in on his popularity.

[Infanteer Two Seven]

Source (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Top-Lankan-army-general-Fonseka-quits-may-run-for-presidency/articleshow/5223831.cms)

Looks like Gen Fonseka is going to cash in on his popularity.

as a follower of Sri Lankan politics i wont be surprised if he was assassinated any sooner but this time they wont have LTTE to blame it on.

[lkRaven]

From LTTE's pov, for the remaining suicide cadres he is the best target. It would take out their arch enemy and the government would be framed.

As for the General, there is no doubt that he is the best general when it comes to CT warfare, but that does not make him a good president. The current president is doing a great job. Recently i visited the Eastern parts of the country including the much hyped Vakarai town and everything is improving. Almost all lands that are not used for construction are used for cultivation, and the road network is getting better by the day. Also the fishing industry seems to be fledging. When the road network is complete..i can only imagine the amount of money that would pour into these parts of the country which were very much neglected during the last few decades.

[Infanteer Two Seven]

From LTTE's pov, for the remaining suicide cadres he is the best target. It would take out their arch enemy and the government would be framed.

As for the General, there is no doubt that he is the best general when it comes to CT warfare, but that does not make him a good president. The current president is doing a great job. Recently i visited the Eastern parts of the country including the much hyped Vakarai town and everything is improving. Almost all lands that are not used for construction are used for cultivation, and the road network is getting better by the day. Also the fishing industry seems to be fledging. When the road network is complete..i can only imagine the amount of money that would pour into these parts of the country which were very much neglected during the last few decades.

you are not serious right ?
what is the point of killing a retired General...has no tactical value but he will be assassinated by the rajapakse brothers and its not a surprise. most Sinhalese are happy that LTTE is defeated but they still hate mahinda because he is a mini dictator. all jobs in SL are given to his family and friends.

[lkRaven]

I am......for LTTE, it would be the ideal situation...it serves as revenge and it also puts the current gov in a big quandry because the opposition would be quick to take advantage of it as it happened with General Janaka Perera. Janaka Perera's murder did not have any tactical value to the LTTE, but they did it. It would be the same with SF.

As for the current govt, i have been to lot of parts in the country after the war and things are getting better, i don't care whether the ministers are corrupt, it won't change even with a new government. Even if SF is elected as president, corruption rates would be the same. But at least under this government there is major development in rural areas especially war torn East and now in the North.

[Darklord]

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's government sidelined top general Sarath Fonseka because of fears he would launch a coup, he wrote in a bitter resignation letter ahead of an expected election battle with the president. The letter, seen by AFP on Friday, criticises the government for a host of failings, including its inability to "win the peace" after the end of a 37-year separatist war here in May.

It gives a rare insight into events following the conflict, which claimed an estimated 80,000-100,000 lives, and shows the total breakdown in trust between Fonseka and his civilian bosses. Considered a war hero at home for his role in the army's victory, Fonseka said the government had asked neighbouring India on October 15 to prepare its troops to be deployed in the event of a military coup here. "This action did tarnish the image and reputation gained by the Sri Lanka army as a competent and professional organisation which was capable of defeating a terrorist group," he said in his letter, written in English.

Fonseka quit on Thursday as chief of defence staff -- a ceremonial position he was given after the military campaign and is now widely tipped to challenge President Mahinda Rajapakse in polls slated for April 2010 at the latest. Sri Lanka's army, led by Fonseka, wiped out the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in May, ending the decades-long conflict but prompting allegations of gross human rights violations.

The United Nations reported that more than 7,000 civilians may have perished in fighting this year, though this is denied by the Sri Lankan government. Fonseka, the country's only four-star general, sidestepped questions on his retirement plans, but associates and analysts expect him to stand against Rajapakse as an opposition candidate. "He is certainly entering politics. It is an irreversible process for him now," Sumanasiri Liyanage, a political science professor at the University of Peradeniya, told AFP. "In the short term it is good because he is helping to mobilise the main opposition. A stronger opposition is good for democracy," Liyanage said.

Fonseka, from the majority Sinhalese ethnic group and known as a nationalist, criticised Rajapakse for failing to make peace with the Tamil minority on whose behalf the LTTE rebels launched their separatist fight.
"Your excellency?s government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the army under my leadership won the war," he said. "There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory attained, paving the way for yet another uprising in the future." He said he opposed holding tens of thousands of Tamil civilians who survived the final stages of the fighting in internment camps and wanted them re-settled at the earliest opportunity -- a call repeated by the international community.

He also accused the Rajapakse administration of corruption and waste and said media freedom and personal liberties had been curtailed. "The many sacrifices the army made to end the war would not have been in vain, if we can usher in a new era of peace and prosperity to our motherland." He also made it clear in his resignation letter that the government feared his power after the end of the war, which was the reason for his new ceremonial position.

"The government's unwillingness to grant me with command responsibilities which leads to believe in a strong mistrust in me, which is most depressing after all what was performed to achieve (the) war victory," he said. He said he had wanted to remain as army chief until the organisation's 60th anniversary in October, but was promoted to the more senior but less powerful post of chief of defence staff in July.

"Various agencies misleading your excellency by stating a possible coup immediately after the victory over the LTTE obviously led to a change of command in spite of my request to be in command until the army celebrated its 60th anniversary. "This fear psychosis of a coup is well known among the defence circles," he wrote to the president.

Sri Lanka has no history of a military coup except an abortive attempt in the early 1960s. There was no immediate comment from the government.
AFP (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGoqf_CesYGl9zlhRJpFLnyT9mCA)

The part about the coup is news. Other than that, he is making good points like winning the hearts and minds of the Tamil population,freedom of press, corruption, etc. I wonder how much support he has within the Armed Forces itself.

[Ordie]

I wonder what percentage of the Tamil vote he will get?

[Infanteer Two Seven]

I wonder what percentage of the Tamil vote he will get?

none what so ever.
most Tamils vote for TNA (Tamil national alliance)

Gen Perera wasn't killed by LTTE. mahinda blamed LTTE but there is no evidence or anything to support mahinda's claim. it could be the karuna group which obviously works for mahinda.