Sri Lanka’s presidential election campaign ends

Colombo, Jan 6:

Campaigning ended Tuesday for Sri Lanka’s presidential election Thursday, with both President Mahinda Rajapaksa and opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena claiming they will win.

The two candidates held their final campaign rallies at different venues Tuesday to gather last minute support, reports Xinhua.

Rajapaksa told his rally that his supporters should not take revenge on the opposition if he wins the election.

There have been concerns over the violence ahead of the election day, with observers saying the violence may affect the polls.

Rajapaksa reiterated that he won’t allow the country to be divided again and that some Western governments wanted him out as he refused to bow to their pressures.

Without taking any country’s name, he said he had been told to reduce the military strength in the country’s Tamil-majority north but he insisted he won’t compromise on the national security.

Addressing a large crowd, Sirisena pledged to give priority to national security and not to allow the vanquished Tamil Tigers to regroup. IANS