Sri Lankan court dismisses poll petition against president

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court Friday dismissed an election petition seeking to remove President Mahinda Rajapaksa from office, a court official said.

Rajapaksa was re-elected for a second term in January.

The petition was filed by former army commander Sarath Fonseka, who unsuccessfully challenged the incumbent, and now is serving a 30-month prison sentence after being found guilty of favouring a family member by awarding him four business contracts with the army.

A five-judge bench ruled that Fonseka had failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove allegations of malpractice and corruption in the Jan 26 polls.

Fonseka petitioned to annul Rajapaksa’s election, citing election irregularities, including the misuse of government resources, such as vehicles, manpower and state media; intimidation of opposition voters and irregularities in vote counting.

Rajapaksa received 57.88 percent of the vote, compared with Fonseka’s 40.15 percent.

Rajapaksa, who was first elected as president in 2005, is to complete his first term of office next month and would then be sworn in for his second six-year term.

The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance, which is led by Rajapaksa, in August approved amendments to the constitution that would allow him to run for a third term.