Chandrika puts injury behind, will go ahead with elections

The President, whose eye is in bandage, is still in the private Nawaloka hospital here. Samaraweera said she had already begun discharging her presidential duties from her hospital room. Kumaratunga was injured when a LTTE suicide bomber struck at her final election rally at the city’s Town Hall late on Saturday night. The attack killed 21 people, including three officers of the Presidential Security Division, a senior police officer and Kumaratunga’s chauffeur. At least 84 others were injured in the attack.

Just 15minutes before the attempt on Kumaratunga’s life, an explosion at a rally in support of a United National Party (UNP) candidate, claimed the lives of 12 people, including a retired Major General who was one of the speakers, and injured 45 others.

Police believe both attacks to be the handiwork of the Tamil Tigers.Kumaratunga’s supporters now anticipate that popular outrage at the attempt on her life will turn the tide firmly against her main opponent Ranil Wickremesinghe who is advocating talks with the LTTE, and create a sympathy wave for her in the majority Sinhalese community in Tuesday’s election.The Kumaratunga camp, which was uncertain till yesterday of an outright victory for their candidate, is now recharged.

But they are also apprehensive that people may not vote for Kumaratunga if they believed her to be in some way incapacitated by the attack.

Samaraweera emphasised that a scan had shown Kumaratunga’s eyesight to be in “absolute good condition” and “unimpaired”. The minister, who is alsoone of her main campaign managers, said she had no injuries that would prevent her from discharging her duties as President, now or in future. He asserted that presidential elections will be held as scheduled on Tuesday, December 21.

Kumaratunga was scheduled to address the nation over state radio this afternoon, which itself gave rise to doubts that she may not be in condition good enough for television. But Samaraweera said a radio broadcast was chosen only to prevent an “emotional reaction” that a bandaged Kumaratunga may provoke among those who “love and respect” her. However, there was no broadcast till late evening.

The People’s Alliance coalition that Kumaratunga heads wheeled out its top guns today for the packed news conference in a show of solidarity for their leader. As each rose and wished her a speedy recovery, the relief at her narrow escape from the assassin was evident.

But there was also a confidence not apparent before that she would now certainly win this election.

In order tomaximise the advantage that the attack has given to the Kumaratunga camp, Samaraweera sought once again to drive home the point the PA has been making right through this campaign: that Wickremesinghe is collaborating with Velupillai Prabhakaran in a devious game-plan to divide the country.

Insinuating that Wickremesinghe may have been behind the assassinations of earlier UNP leaders in order to take control of the party, Samaraweera said he may have “hoped that his old friend Prabhakaran would come to his rescue again” in his fight against Kumaratunga.