The Sri Lankan government has advanced the date of the Presidential election to January 2, 2015 from January 8, to accommodate the visit of Pope Francis on January 13 and 14, The Sunday Times has reported.
The weekly broadsheet however added that there will be finality in this matter only if the Vatican also agrees. A delegation from the Vatican had visited Lanka last week during which the Minister for External Affairs, G L Peiris, and other high civil and military officials, had briefed it about the elaborate and foolproof arrangements made by the government for the visit. The Pope is to worship at the 300 year old St Mary’s church at Madu in North Lanka also.
The issue that the Vatican has to grapple with, is its policy of not arranging a Pope’s visit to a country which has national elections either a month before or after a Papal visit.
When the head of the Sri Lankan Catholic church Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith announced some months ago that the Pope would visit Lanka on January 13 and 14, 2015, there was no talk of a snap Presidential election in January. But due to the developing political situation and astrological readings, President Mahinda Rajapaksa let it be known (albeit unofficially), that he intends to seek a fresh mandate ahead of time in January 2015. The dates bandied about were January 8, 17 and 26. But this created problems for the Pope’s visit.
Rajapaksa wanted the visit to take place as scheduled as it could help him garner Catholic votes. But some opposition groups wanted the elections postponed, so that no party gets an undue advantage from the Papal visit. The Lankan Catholic church was confused.
Meanwhile, the search for a common opposition candidate to oppose Rajapaksa in the elections gathered momentum with a series of meetings between the United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero’s National Movement for a Just Society, Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thero’s Pivithuru Hetak (A Better Tomorrow) movement, and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
By weekend, Karu Jayasuriya, seemed to be emerging as the UNP’s candidate even as the UNP and other parties were looking for a common candidate on a common platform.
(TNIE)
