Aaron Fernandes reports from Sri Lanka
Saranya was only days away from giving birth when a suicide bomber walked into St Anthony’s Church in Colombo in April this year and detonated an explosive.
It took her several days in hospital to recover from a shrapnel wound to the neck, but her baby survived unharmed. Her husband Christopher did not.
“As soon as the bomb exploded I fainted. I only woke up because I could hear my baby crying inside of me,” she tells SBS News.
In Sri Lanka, the Easter terror attacks which killed 259 people still hang heavy over the country.
Saranya survived the Easter bomb attack but her husband didn’t. Source: Aaron Fernandes/SBS News
Survivors argue Sri Lankan authorities knew the risk of an attack was high but failed to act.
“Only the people who lost someone know the suffering,” Saranya says.
Presidential race
It is in this climate that Sri Lankans will head to the polls on 16 November to elect a new president.
A record 35 candidates are in the running, but experts agree the field has narrowed to two likely candidates: Sajith Premadasa of the United National Party (UNP) and Gotabaya Rajapaksa of the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP) party.
Premadasa is the housing minister in the current government and the son of a former president who was assassinated by Tamil separatists.
Rajapaksa is the brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. As the defence secretary in his brother’s government, the two men are credited with bringing an end to Sri Lanka’s brutal 26-year civil war, fought against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).
He has been accused of committing war crimes and has said that if he wins office, he will revoke an agreement between Sri Lanka and the United Nations to investigate alleged war crimes during the nation’s civil war.
Rajapaksa faced an extra hurdle this week when it was revealed his US citizenship might make him ineligible.
Dr Jehan Perera says Sri Lanka’s leaders have capitalised on nationalist sentiment. Source: Aaron Fernandes/SBS News
While the candidates come with very different reputations, they’ve each campaigned strongly on domestic security.
“We see very nationalist pronouncements being made at this time, about the division of the country, the erosion of our sovereignty, of international interference in the domestic affairs of the country,” the National Peace Council’s Dr Jehan Perera says.
“Minorities are being used, described as a threat – a problem that needs to be solved”.
Ethnic, religious tensions
When Sri Lanka’s war ended in 2009, many thought peace had finally come to the island nation.
But since the Easter attack, there have been growing concerns that the country as a whole is becoming less tolerant of religious and ethnic minorities.
Muslim communities, in particular, say they’ve become the target of harassment and vandalism.
At a Hiniyama Jumma Mosque, 100km north of Colombo, SBS News was shown the broken glass of windows – allegedly smashed by a group of 400 Buddhists.
Muslim communities in Sri Lanka say they’ve been blamed for the Easter attacks. Source: Aaron Fernandes/SBS News
“We have held peace talks here with the local Buddhists and the Christians,” local man Mim Siddique says.
“Across Sri Lanka [these attacks] are happening. We don’t want it to get worse here.”
Fake news scandal
It’s a national mood that has been a prime target of fake news creators on social media during the presidential campaign.
Prasad Perera is a social media consultant, working to identify and remove misinformation from public platforms.
“It is a serious problem because social media is a new thing for Sri Lankans. So when they see that content, even if it’s fake, that believe it to be true,” he says.
Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s Centre for Policy Alternatives sent a letter to Facebook, urging the social media platform to immediately improve its monitoring and removal of misinformation during the presidential election.
Prasad Perera is a social media consultant in Colombo. Source: Aaron Fernandes/SBS News
It’s an issue of major concern to especially younger Sri Lankan voters.
“In the past, as a Sri Lankan, you might vote how your parents or how your family tells you,” Mr Perera says.
“But today, young people are engaged – they want to know what politicians are promising. Fake news is really terrible for our democracy”.
The Tamil vote
Analysts say Premadasa will receive strong support from minorities – especially Tamils and Muslims – while Rajapaksa will have to rely on a dominant performance among Sri Lanka’s Buddhist Sinhala majority to win office.
A group of Tamil women from the north, left with amputations from the war, travelled to Colombo this week to petition candidates to address the concerns of Tamil voters.
Vetri Chelvi lost her right hand in an explosion while fighting for the LTTE during the civil war.
Many Tamil voters plan to boycott the election. Source: Aaron Fernandes/SBS News
She says there’s been little work done to repair relations between the two sides of the country since the war ended a decade ago.
“There are so many problems in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka that need to be addressed,” Ms Chelvi says.
“Those who suffered from the war, so far, none of the leaders have come up with a solution to this suffering. I don’t think any of them have the political will to really address the lingering questions of the war”.
Most analysts agree that by the final weeks of the campaign, the race has narrowed to two contestants, but it remains too close to call.
