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Lankan opposition backs ex-military chief in polls

AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's main opposition party said yesterday it would back former military chief Sarath Fonseka in his bid to unseat President Mahinda Rajapakse in upcoming elections.
The United National Party (UNP) became the second opposition party, after the Marxist JVP earlier this week, to throw its weight behind Fonseka, 58, who is widely expected to confirm his candidature at the weekend.
"We back General Fonseka to be the common opposition candidate," UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters.
The UNP said it had secured an agreement with the former general, who has been widely credited with the strategy that led to the defeat of Tamil rebels in May after decades of ethnic bloodshed.
"I have got broad support from most opposition political parties. But I will officially announce my intentions whether to accept the post as a common candidate on Sunday," Fonseka told AFP afterwards.
Fonseka quit as chief of defence staff this month, after a rift with Rajapakse over who should take credit for crushing separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in a government offensive.
After the fighting ended in May, he was moved from army chief to become chief of defence staff, a more ceremonial position that reportedly left him feeling sidelined because of its lack of command powers.
Wickremesinghe, echoing comments from the JVP earlier this week, said Fonseka had promised to scrap the allpowerful presidency, which concentrates executive power in the head of state.
"We will bring in the necessary provisions to abolish the executive presidency. We will ensure General Fonseka's victory ends the Rajapakse regime," he said.
The UNP said Fonseka had agreed to dissolve the current cabinet and appoint an interim government to conduct parliamentary elections, which are due by April.
Opposition political parties have accused Rajapakse of granting key state positions to family members and of wantoncorruption.
The president's younger brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse is the defence secretary, who also played a key role in crushing Tamil Tigers and ending Asia’s longest running ethnic conflict.
However, the Rajapakse brothers and Fonseka fell out after all three vied to take credit for the victor)'.