sri lanka presidential elections 2006

the choice before the people at the sri lankan presidential elections 2006 is pretty clear cut and straightforward. open economy and peace talks with the ltte ( a.k.a. ranil) or controlled / closed economy and a hard-line / nationalistic approach with the ltte (a.k.a. mahinda). as a bonus, along with the latter one also gets the jvp ( sinhala marxist party) and the jhu ( sinhala buddhist clergy party). as usual, it is said that the election will be the most decisive in our history. but one must take this with a pinch of salt. all elections in sri lanka have been ( and will be) called that. what is likely is that we will be stuck with our choice for 11 years.

neither of the choices are charismatic. ranil is pragmatic and not very practical but a good administrator. mahinda tries to be all things to all people and is consequently the more popular. president chandrika was (is) popular and since 1994 that hasn’t gained sri lanka much currency.

my choice is clear. i believe that the sinhalese must talk to the ltte and must necessarily grant them some kind of autonomy. i hate war. and should war break out, it will not be me would be on the battle field but the sons and daughters of those in the south, the north and the east. therefore, i cannot vote for war. i hate manioc. despite it’s obvious drawbacks, an open economy is the only way forward for the country. controlled / closed economies will simply not work in island sri lanka. we have experienced that in the past.

on the 17th of november the people will decide. and this time around they will get what they vote for.