Maithri Threat – Will It Translate In To Votes Against Rajapaksa?
Hilmy Ahamed
The threat posed by Maithripala Sirisena and Co. to the popular war-winning President is the biggest pre election political upheaval since the defection from the Chandrika Kumaratunga government by SB, GL and eleven others that gave the crown to Ranil Wicremesinghe in December 2001. Will this be repeated in the January 2015 elections? This time around, the number of defections are rumored to be far greater with 21 to 46 predicted, a far greater number than in 2001. Yet, President Mahinda Rajapaksa remains more popular than the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga presidency of that time. This defection could not have come as a surprise to the president as his brother, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa controls the country’s well trained and well equipped intelligence network. He is sure to have calculated his risks when he ventured to bid for his third term with two years left from his second term.