Election under tension in Srilanka

Sri Lanka was voting on Saturday. 16 million voters choose a new president. 35 candidates are in the running. An election against a backdrop of latent tensions over the country’s Muslim minority, 10% of the population of 22 million. The attacks on behalf of the Islamic State group, which killed 269 people at Easter, in churches and hotels, led to stigmatization of Muslims, and this Saturday a bus was shot in central Sri Lanka.

Other incidents were noted in the north of the country, which is predominantly Tamil. roadblocks were reportedly erected to hinder the proper conduct of the vote.

Security and terrorism issues have once again become a concern of Sri Lankans, as seldom since the end of the Tamil conflict in 2009.

For this presidential election, the first results are expected this Sunday.

Admin Pitisara

See author's posts