COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
Support for the traditional parties dropped, and smaller parties – JVP [Janatha Vimukthi
Peramumna], TNA [Tamil National Alliance] and JHU [Jathika Hela Urumaya] gained
significant numbers of seats.‖
3.04 Europa World Online 22 , accessed on 1 June 2011, stated that:
―Mahinda Rajapakse, a senior member of the SLFP, was sworn in as Prime Minister on
6 April and a few days later a new Cabinet was sworn in. In September the UPFA
Government achieved a legislative majority when the CWC [Ceylon Workers'
Congress], which had eight seats in Parliament, announced that it would join the ruling
coalition. In the following month three members of the opposition SLMC defected to the
UPFA, further strengthening the Government.‖
3.05 The FCO profile 23 noted that:
―In November 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa (SLFP) was elected President with 50.3% of
the vote. The LTTE enforced a boycott of the poll in key Tamil areas. This resulted in
extremely low voter participation in the north and east of the country. Ranil
Wickremesinghe, UNP Presidential candidate and Leader of the Opposition took 48.4%.
In January 2007, a number of UNP members joined the government team giving it a
parliamentary majority. A cabinet reshuffle followed. Throughout 2008 and 2009 the
UPFA won a series of victories in Provincial Council elections.‖
The final official results of such elections are available from the website of the Sri Lanka
Department of Elections.
3.06 The FCO profile 24 added:
―Early Presidential elections took place in January 2010. President Rajapaksa‘s main
challenger was the former Sri Lankan Army General Sarath Fonseka, who was
supported by a number of opposition parties including the UNP, JVP and TNA. Both
candidates‘ campaigns focussed on their respective roles in the military defeat of the
LTTE in May 2009. On 27 January 2010, the Sri Lankan Election Commissioner
announced that President Rajapaksa had won the presidential election with 58% of the
vote. Independent election monitors expressed broad satisfaction with the conduct of
the poll on election day, which attracted a 70% turnout, but highlighted a number of
concerns about campaign conduct including the high incidence of pre-election violence.
Fonseka announced that he planned to contest the result in court.
oceania/sri-lanka;jsessionid=4AC8FCEAFE70794624EC38E125BD0AE9.tomcat2date date accessed 11
January 2012 (Political History)
22 Europa World Online, Sri Lanka, Domestic Political Affairs, undated
http://www.europaworld.com/entry/EE001876 [subscription only] date accessed 1 June 2011
23 Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Country profile of Sri Lanka, last reviewed 9 December
2011, http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asiaoceania/sri-lanka;jsessionid=4AC8FCEAFE70794624EC38E125BD0AE9.tomcat2date
date accessed 11
January 2012 (Political History)
24 Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Country profile of Sri Lanka, last reviewed 9 December
2011, http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asiaoceania/sri-lanka;jsessionid=4AC8FCEAFE70794624EC38E125BD0AE9.tomcat2date
date accessed 11
January 2012 (Latest Political Developments)
20 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.