ISAS Briefs

The Sri Lankan presidential election will take place in January 2010. Seeking a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his first term in 2011, President Mahinda Rajapakse's main challenger will be his former Chief of Defence Staff, General Sarath Fonseka, who played a key role in the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This paper compares the two candidates and concludes that, between President Rajapakse and General Fonseka, continuity is better than change; within the government, change is imperative; and between the government and the opposition, change may be better than continuity.