Bigspin
01-28-2010, 07:48 PM
COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Re-elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa will dissolve parliament shortly and call a legislative election, his office said Thursday, in a move that could enable him to reshape the unwieldy coalition now backing him.
Rajapaksa won a thumping victory Tuesday over his former army commander, General Sarath Fonseka, in the Indian Ocean island's first nationwide election since the defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers.
Rajapaksa had sought a new mandate to bless his plans to develop Sri Lanka by exploiting its geographically strategic position astride air and sea lanes, rebuilding infrastructure and encouraging foreign investment and local productivity.
"(The) President is to dissolve parliament and go for a general election soon," presidential spokesman Lucien Rajakarunanayake said.
He declined to say precisely when the president would dissolve the legislature. The present parliament's term is due to expire in April.
Disproving forecasts that Rajapaksa and former general Fonseka would race to a photo finish, the veteran politician won 57.8 percent of 10.4 million votes cast against 40.2 for Fonseka.
The Colombo Stock Exchange, which dipped 2 percent in early Thursday trading, closed up 1.28 percent at a fresh record high. It turned in a 125 percent return in 2009, fuelled by post-war optimism that made it one of the year's best performers.
However, foreign investors sold a net of 414 million Sri Lanka rupees
Source (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100128/tpl-uk-srilanka-election-81f3b62.html)
Rajapaksa won a thumping victory Tuesday over his former army commander, General Sarath Fonseka, in the Indian Ocean island's first nationwide election since the defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers.
Rajapaksa had sought a new mandate to bless his plans to develop Sri Lanka by exploiting its geographically strategic position astride air and sea lanes, rebuilding infrastructure and encouraging foreign investment and local productivity.
"(The) President is to dissolve parliament and go for a general election soon," presidential spokesman Lucien Rajakarunanayake said.
He declined to say precisely when the president would dissolve the legislature. The present parliament's term is due to expire in April.
Disproving forecasts that Rajapaksa and former general Fonseka would race to a photo finish, the veteran politician won 57.8 percent of 10.4 million votes cast against 40.2 for Fonseka.
The Colombo Stock Exchange, which dipped 2 percent in early Thursday trading, closed up 1.28 percent at a fresh record high. It turned in a 125 percent return in 2009, fuelled by post-war optimism that made it one of the year's best performers.
However, foreign investors sold a net of 414 million Sri Lanka rupees
Source (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100128/tpl-uk-srilanka-election-81f3b62.html)