Sri Lanka Minister Defects to Challenge President at Polls

A senior minister quit Sri Lanka's ruling party Friday to stand as the main opposition's candidate in January elections, accusing President Mahinda Rajapakse of being a corrupt dictator.

As organizers confirmed the election would be on January 8, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said he was confident of toppling his boss in an announcement that earned him the sack from his other post as general secretary of the president's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Underlining the scale of the threat facing Rajapakse, Sirisena was joined at his defection announcement by former president Chandrika Kumaratunga who also said she was leaving the SLFP.

The defection by Sirisena to the main opposition United National Party (UNP) appears to have taken Rajapakse by surprise and represents a major challenge to the authority of the region's longest-serving ruler.

"I thank the UNP for choosing me as the common opposition candidate," Sirisena told reporters in Colombo. "We will definitely win."

Rajapakse declared Thursday that he will seek an unprecedented third term as president -- a move that was only made possible after he pushed through changes to the constitution.

While Rajapakse remains generally popular with majority Sinhalese voters after overseeing the end of a 37-year war against Tamil separatists in 2009, critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian.

"The country is heading towards a dictatorship," said 63-year-old Sirisena, who also accused the president of nepotism and corruption.

"The entire economy and every aspect of society is controlled by one family."

The president's brothers include the speaker of parliament Chamal Rajapakse, the economic development minister Basil Rajapakse and the powerful defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse.

His eldest son Namal is a lawmaker and heads the SLFP's youth wing.

"Corruption is rampant, there is no rule of law," added Sirisena who promised to reverse the constitutional amendments brought in under Rajapakse which have increased the powers of the president.

"I urge you to support me to scrap the executive presidency. I will scrap this executive within 100 days."

His endorsement by the former president Kumaratunga, who is the daughter of two former prime ministers, is seen as a major boost to Sirisena's electoral fortunes.

"After nine years I am ending my silence. I have decided to re-enter active politics to help bring down a corrupt regime," said Kumaratunga who has kept a low profile since handing over the leadership of the SLFP to Rajapakse in 2005.

"The question is whether we allow one family to destroy the country or restore decency in politics." Kumaratunga, who served as president from 1994-2005, told reporters.

"It will be a betrayal of the nation if I do not help this group."

Three other ministers appeared alongside Sirisena to declare that they were also defecting.

Officials close to Rajapakse said that the president only realized that Sirisena was about to jump ship a couple of days ago.

Rajapakse had believed the UNP would field its own leader and former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe in the contest.

Soon after Sirisena's announcement, Chief Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Deshapriya confirmed that the elections would be on January 8, exactly one month after the close of nominations for candidates.

It means that the elections will be held only days before a scheduled visit by Pope Francis from January 13 to 15, with the Church warning that parties should not use the trip for political advantage.

The contest is taking place against a backdrop of growing international pressure over the Rajapakse administration's human rights record.

The 69-year-old also faces accusations that his administration has silenced dissenting voices, including the media and judiciary after he sacked the chief justice last year.

Rajapakse is also struggling to avoid international censure over claims his troops killed 40,000 Tamil civilians in the bloody finale of the fighting, an issue that has overshadowed his ongoing chairmanship of the Commonwealth.