Sri Lanka's Opposition Stages Massive Demonstration In Colombo Over Disputed Elections

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Sri Lanka's opposition parties staged a massive demonstration in the capital city of Colombo on Wednesday, protesting against the recent presidential election which they allege was "rigged" to ensure victory for incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Thousands of opposition supporters participated in Wednesday's demonstration, shouting slogans against President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government. They alleged that that the government carried out "computer rigging" during the elections, which they insist that opposition candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka would have won otherwise.

Addressing the rally, Gen Fonseka told the participants that Rajapaksa had "stolen" their right to elect the country's president by rigging the election. Pointing out that the president-elect was not behaving like someone who won with such a massive majority, Gen Fonseka said that Rajapakse's actions and retribution on opponents after the elections suggest that he is nervous.

The opposition leader was apparently referring to the sacking of several high ranking military officers by the government immediately after the elections. Following the announcement of election results, Sri Lankan government had dismissed 12 senior military officers close to Fonseka for being a "threat to national security" and hatching "political conspiracy" during the presidential elections.

The opposition rally came a day after Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the second term in office of President re-elect Mahinda Rajapaksa would commence only on 19th November 2010, thereby giving him an additional year in office.

With Tuesday's court ruling, Rajapaksa would now get to complete the five out of the six years of his first term, as well as six years of his second tenure that commences from November 2010. The next Presidential election would be due only on 19th November 2016.

Rajapaksa had emerged winner in the 26th January presidential elections, defeating Fonseka by a massive majority of over 1.8 million votes. While Rajapaksa won 57.8% of the votes polled, Fonseka managed to secure only 40%. The country's election commissioner has denied the allegations of irregularities in the election and had stood by the poll result.

Fonseka, who was Sri Lanka's Army Chief during the final three-year phase in the island-nation's civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, has since rejected the outcome of the January election, alleging vote-rigging. He also has lodged several objections linked to the poll with the country's Electoral Commission.

Gen Fonseka resigned from his post in November and joined politics, mainly over differences with President Rajapaksa over who should take credit for defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Earlier, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government riding on a strong public support after the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last year, called for early elections in an effort to cash on its popularity among the island's Sinhalese majority over subduing the rebel movement.

In May, the Sri Lankan military claimed victory in its 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels after recapturing the rebel-held areas and eliminating major rebel leaders, including Tamil Tiger founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, in a final offensive that lasted over a year.

Official figures indicate that the final military offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeastern regions of the country left over 300,000 people homeless, while some 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the civil war.

An estimated 80,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the country's civil war after the Tamil Tiger rebels launched an armed rebellion in 1983, demanding an independent state for the Tamil minority in the island nation's northern and eastern regions.

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