Jaffna daily assails "Mahinda Doctrine"

[TamilNet, Friday, 21 October 2005, 11:39 GMT]
Mr Mahinda Rajapakse has brought the Sinhala approach to resolving the Tamil National question a full circle by rejecting the concepts of Tamil home land, right to self determination, federal solution, and the P-TOMS, and re-affirming Tamils belief that the Sinhala south is incapable of shedding the chauvinist mindset, said the editorial of the popular Jaffna Tamil daily 'Uthayan' in its Thursday edition.
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Rajapakse manifesto released

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 October 2005, 10:52 GMT]
Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, presidential candidate of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) released his manifesto at an event held in the BMICH at an event held Tuesday morning in the Bandaranaike International Memorial Conference Hall (BMICH). The manifesto said that an ultimate solution to the ethnic crisis could only be reached through negotiations and not through war and that a settlement based on a unitary state is the basis to the ethnic crisis.


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Wickremasinghe addresses rallies in Trinco, Kinniya

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 October 2005, 15:57 GMT]
Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, presidential candidate of the United National Party (UNP) Sunday addressed two election rallies, one in Trincomalee town and other in Kinniya in support of his candidature. Mr.Rauff Hakim, Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) also addressed these meeting along with Mr. Wickremasinghe. Trincomalee meeting was held Sunday morning and Kinniya in the evening.
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Southern journalists on goodwill mission to Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 October 2005, 02:15 GMT]
About fifty sinhalese journalists and three Buddhist monks from Hambantota, Galle and Matara from south of Sri Lanka arrived in Trincomalee Saturday evening on a four-day good-will mission to obtain first hand information about problems faced mainly by Tamil people and others in the Trincomalee district and in areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The National Peace Council (NPC) of Sri Lanka organized this visit, sources said.


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CWC, SLMC, UPF leaders to address UNP election rally

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 October 2005, 06:43 GMT]
The United National Party (UNP) will hold a presidential election rally, the first to be held after handing in nominations, in the hill town of Kandy, Saturday evening. UNP presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe with the leaders of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the Upcountry People's Front (UPF) will address the meeting, political sources in Kandy said.


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DLF split on support to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 September 2005, 02:57 GMT]
Senior member of Democratic Left Front (DLF), Professor Kumar David, Friday dissociated himself from a press release issued by Secretary of DLF, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and party's National Organizer, Quintus Liyanage, that expressed support to Sri Lanka's Presidential candidate Rajapakse in the forthcoming presidential elections.
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Colombo lacks will, ability to address Tamil National question- TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 September 2005, 01:42 GMT]
Tamil people will be forced to urge the International community to "explicitely endorse the Tamil people's struggle for self-determination," if the Sri Lankan State continues to be intransigent in resolving the Tamil National question, warned Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a press release issued in Colombo Thursday.
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Bring anti-conversion bill before poll, demands JHU

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 September 2005, 00:04 GMT]
More than one thousand Buddhist monks representing Jathika Sanga Sammelaneya (National Buddhist Convention), an umbrella Buddhis organization, including monks from Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), an extreme Sinhala nationlist party of Buddhist monks, attended a meeting held Tuesday evening to urge the Sri Lanka Government to bring to parliament the anti-conversion bill before the Sri Lanka Presidential elections scheduled for 17 November, sources in Colomb said.
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Rajapakse, JVP kick off joint election campaign

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 19:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka's premier Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse nominated as the SLFP presidential candidate vowed Tuesday to thwart all attempts by opposing parties with "vested interest" to defeat him in the forthcoming SL presidential polls on November 17. Mr. Rajapakse was addressing his first presidential election rally in Colombo Town Hall ground attended by representatives of political parties extending support to Mr. Rajapakse, including the Sinhala extremist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). However, Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) key figures including Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake were absent.
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'There is no place for moderates'

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 September 2005, 05:40 GMT]
Even as his party leader and incumbent President Chandrika Kumaratunga wrapped herself in the tenets of liberalism whilst addressing the United Nations last week, her party's candidate for her succession, Mahinda Rajapakse, continued to tread an unabashedly Sinhala ultra-nationalist platform at home.
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SLMC to reveal stand after nomination day- Hakim

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 September 2005, 12:42 GMT]
The support of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in the coming presidential poll would be for a political party that would not act in to weaken the strength of the Muslim political leadership, which has been endorsed by majority Muslim people in Sri Lanka, said Mr.Rauff Hakim, Leader of SLMC participating as the chief guest in the fifth death anniversary religious event of SLMC founder leader late Mr.A.H.M.Ashraff held in Trincomalee Zahira College Friday evening.
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Peace approach should transcend party politics- paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 September 2005, 16:59 GMT]
"The peace process requires an approach that transcends narrow and warped ambitions of party politics. The two Presidential candiates, Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition leader Ranil Wickramesinghe, must refrain from making the peace process an issue at the forthcoming Presidential elections," said an editorial of Thinakkural, a popular Tamil daily in its Thursday edition.


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Rajapakse, JHU exchange agreement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 10:51 GMT]
Prime Minister Rajapakse of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Ellawela Methantha Thera of Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) exchanged agreement for the forthcoming Presidential election at Dalada Maligawa, Kandy Tuesday morning at 1130am. The parties agreed in principle to terminate talks on the Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) and to find a solution to the ethnic crisis on the basis of a unitary state.


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Peace process faces difficult future - paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 September 2005, 10:13 GMT]
Reflecting growing anxieties amongst Sri Lanka’s Tamils in the wake of the Sinhala nationalist forces gathering behind Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, the Tamil Guardian newspaper warned this week that the peace process “will face an ever more uncompromising Sinhala bloc.” The island’s political developments, moreover, reflect the polarised sentiments amongst the island’s communities, the English-language paper’s editorial column argued.
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Legal wrangle delays call for poll nomination

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 September 2005, 18:06 GMT]
Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake, Commissioner of Elections is awaiting clarification of the final paragraph of the landmark judgement delivered on August 12 by the Supreme Court directing him to hold the presidential election before the end of the year 2005. Commissioner of Elections has already filed a motion in the Supreme Court to delete a clause in the final paragraph of the judgement that is preventing him from calling for nomination in the presidential poll, legal sources said.
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SLFP holds 54th annual conference

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 07 September 2005, 09:17 GMT]
More than 20,000 participated in the 54th Annual conference of Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP) which was held Tuesday at Colombo Horse Race Square, political sources in Colombo said. The conference rally started at 12 noon from Colombo Campell Park and marched through the baseline road, via Reed Avenue and reached the meeting venue at 6pm. Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumarathunga and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksha joined the rally at Reed Avenue and walked to Horse Race Square, political sources in Colombo said.


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JHU to support Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 September 2005, 09:36 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), Sinhala extremeist all monks' party said Tuesday it has decided to support Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, Prime Minister in the forthcoming presidential election, sources in Colombo said. The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has named Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse as its presidential candidate.


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JHU to announce candidate after call for nominations

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 September 2005, 13:51 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Sinhala extremist all Buddhist monks party, at a Worship meeting held a the Viharamaha Devi Park Saturday evening, said that they will announce their Sri Lanka presidential candidate after the election date is announced and the nominations are called by the election commissioner, political sources in Colombo said.
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JHU holds talks with Rajapakse on presidential poll

[TamilNet, Monday, 29 August 2005, 16:44 GMT]
A delegation of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all monks' party Monday held talks with Prime Minister and the presidential candidate of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, in an attempt to reach a consensus on its five-point formula to support him in the presidential poll. The talks centered on reaching consensus with Mr.Rajapakse on two main demands that he should accept unitary constitution to continue and not to hold peace talks with the LTTE, Venerable Athuraliya Ratana Thera of the JHU said.
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JVP, JHU to outline their strategy for Presidential election next week

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 August 2005, 14:51 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all monks' party, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sinhala nationalist-cum-Marxist party, are to announce their decision during the first week of September whether to field their own candidates or to support one of the two main political parties in the forthcoming presidential election widely expected to be held in November second week, political sources said.
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