As Sri Lankans struggle to put food in their mouths and shoes on their feet, the political elite of that country are manipulating election laws in an attempt to ensure a new term for President Mahinda Rajapakse. Whether Rajapakse can pull this election out of the hat is in extreme doubt. As if the country does not have enough real problems to deal with, the principal argument that seems to be fueling the upcoming election is who can claim responsibility for the recent defeat of the LTTE, the four-decade old Tamil insurgency group. Rajapakse claims he is responsible while his recently announced opponent for the presidency, ex-military chief Sarath Fonseka, feels that he is responsible. Most news reports maintain that Rajapakse, who was elected to a six year term, has called early elections to take advantage of public good will in the wake of the defeat of the LTTE. That is likely true but there is another side to the decision that many Sri Lankans see as equal motivation. Despite the end of the war, the Sri Lankan economy, which depends on tourism to sustain itself, has been hit badly by the worldwide recession. Tourism is estimated to be down 90 percent from two years ago. There is also widespread belief in the country that a lot of the reconstruction money that poured into the country after the tsunami disaster in 2004 was diverted into personal bank accounts of government officials. Small businessmen, though confident that tourism will return to previous levels, expect, at least, two more years of extreme circumstances for the local economy, making the end of Rajapakse's original tenure fodder for vast popular dissatisfaction and the basis for an eventual electoral defeat. Sri Lankans are inundated with images of Rajapakse on TV and on billboards along major highways. There is clearly an attempt to create a cult of personality around Rajapakse. In the end, however, Sri Lankans will look to their pocketbooks, which in most cases are all but empty. Now that the war is over, it is time to concentrate on developing a viable economy in the country. Arguing over who won the war is of little importance to people who cannot put food on the table. __
