Rajapakse issues challenge to president

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse openly challenged his successor on Friday, demanding he respect the “will of the people”, after the country’s new leader vetoed his ambitions to become prime minister.
In a tersely written letter, Rajapakse rejected President Maithripala Sirisena’s accusations against him as “baseless” and hinted he should head the government if his party won the vote.
The two men belong to the same party and were allies until late last year, when Sirisena quit as health minister to stand against the veteran strongman in the January 8 presidential election.
On Thursday, Sirisena accused Rajapakse of fuelling communal hatred on the island and said he would choose one of seven senior members of their United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) as prime minister should it win Monday’s general election.
“Even if I have to intervene to form a coalition, you will not be the prime minister,” Sirisena said in a five-page letter to Rajapakse.
Rajapakse lambasted the president over the claims.
“The allegations you have made against me are baseless. You have relied on outsiders to form these accusations,” said Rajapakse.
“I wholeheartedly reject them.”
However, in another blow to Rajapakse, two of his strong allies in the party were removed from their key positions by Sirisena, officials said.
The UPFA’s general secretary Susil Premajayantha, an ally of Rajapakse was sacked along with Anura Yapa, the secretary of the UPFA’s main constituent party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, officials said.
Rajapakse loyalists said the two sackings and Thursday’s letter could damage their chances with just hours to go until campaigning ends, and appealed to the independent elections commissioner to bar the media from reporting it.
The UPFA is seen as unlikely to prevail in the vote.
Many observers were stunned by Sirisena’s victory over Rajapakse, who had been in power for nearly a decade and oversaw the crushing of the Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in 2009.