Sri Lanka Muslim party further ponders position in presidential election

Sri Lanka's main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), said Saturday it would need further time to make a decision on which of the main presidential aspirants it would support in the election to be held in November.

A senior official of the SLMC said that the party's High Command, the main policy making body of the party, held a marathon session Friday night which ended in the early hours on Saturday to review the party's stand in order to make a decision.

The party decided its leader Rauff Hakeem to be empowered to make the decision in extending support to either Mahinda Rajapakse, candidate of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, or Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the main opposition the United National Party.

Hakeem told the party that his decision would be made known within the next few days.

The SLMC support would be crucial for both candidates in securing the 50 percent plus one vote required to be declared next President.

The SLMC had aligned with both parties at different times in the past and figured in the cabinet of both parties.

It is the biggest political party for the minority Muslims who constitute over 7 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population.

Rajapakse had already secured the support of other splinter Muslim groups who had broken away from the SLMC over differences with Hakeem.

The SLMC's main strength comes from the eastern province where the Muslims in areas dominated by them had come under the harassment of the Tamil Tigers in spite of the Norwegian backed ceasefire.

The SLMC now demands a separate delegation for the Muslim in future peace talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels.

Hakeem was part of the government delegation in the six rounds of peace talks held with the Tigers during the tenure of the main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe when he was prime minister between 2001-2004.

Source: Xinhua