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Rajapakse's victory

The election of Mahinda Rajapakse as Sri Lanka's President puts the question of peace through devolution of power to the regions in doubt. A reversal of Chandrika Kumaratunga's federalist paradigm is imminent as Mr. Rajapakse entered into poll pacts with the unitarist Janata Vimukti Perumana and the Jathika Hela Urumaya.

The Tamils' non-participation in the elections will not help their cause. The mainstreaming of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will be the big issue now.

Y. Jagannatham,
Vijayawada, A.P.

Fear of the LTTE kept the majority of Tamil voters indoors and ensured the defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe. The LTTE, as you have rightly pointed out in your editorial (Nov. 19), "sees its interest in helping usher in an era of hardline Sinhala politics, which will help it justify the pursuit of Eelam and enable it to regain a measure of international sympathy for its project of dividing Sri Lanka." The new President must take note of this and reach out to the Tamils and Muslims.

C.A.C. Murugappan,
Kothamangalam, T.N

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