Sri Lanka: It's 'Terminator' vs 'Pad Man' in presidential elections

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the major contender of the upcoming presidential elections in Sri Lanka, has found his main challenger in Sajith Premadasa, a cabinet minister in the current government. While Rajapaksa, a retired army lieutenant colonel, is dependent on his past contributions that ended a 37-year long civil war, Premadasa is trying to get women’s votes by offering free sanitary napkins. 

Tough image of Rajapaksa

Rajapaksa’s family gave him the name ‘Terminator’ after he pledged to fight corruption and Islamic extremism in the wake of Easter bombings that killed 269 people this year. His past successes as a de facto military chief have created a tough image in contrast to Premadasa who is trying to appeal to women voters with the issue of menstrual hygiene, a taboo subject in the conservative Buddhist society.

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Vocal on menstrual hygiene

Though Premadasa’s rivals ridiculed his political campaign for discussing menstrual hygiene and gave him the name ‘Pad Man’, he has not shied away from the topic saying he will remain committed to women’s rights. “If we are serious about women's empowerment, this is a basic place to begin. Until sustainable cost effective alternatives are found, I stand by my promise to provide sanitary hygiene products free of charge,” tweeted Premadasa.

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Promise to release military personnel

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa, in his campaign manifesto, promised to rehabilitate and release all military personnel accused of abuses in the country’s civil war. After a Sri Lankan parliamentary committee held the country’s spy chief primarily responsible for the intelligence failure in the Easter bombings, Rajapaksa has vowed to strengthen the working links with foreign intelligence agencies.

“As inter-State crime is becoming more and more sophisticated, all intelligence personnel will be equipped to use modern Information and Communication Technologies in the performance of their duties,” read the campaign manifesto.

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