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Sri Lanka presidential elections to be held Nov. 17

Sri Lanka's presidential election will be held Nov. 17, election officials said Monday.

Nominations will be accepted on Oct. 7, said Rasika Peiris, assistant election commissioner. Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the presidential election must be held this year - ending months of controversy over when President Chandrika Kumaratunga's second term ends. She is limited by the constitution to two terms, and had argued that she should be able to serve until next year because the previous elections were called early. Ruling party candidate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe are locked in a tightly contested race for the presidency.

The election is largely seen as a referendum on how to handle a fragile peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, who have demanded greater autonomy in their northeastern stronghold as a condition for resuming talks on ending the island's two-decade civil war. Rajapakse has already secured support from a hardline Marxist party and another led by Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist monks after he pledged not to share power with the guerrillas and to review the Norwegian-brokered peace process. The move has angered Kumaratunga, who has long pushed for a power-sharing deal and agreed to the Tigers' demand for joint distribution of aid for victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami, hoping to achieve peace with the rebels. Wickremesinghe, who signed a cease-fire with the rebels in February 2002 when he was prime minister, has promised to resume the peace talks and create a federal system of government that would give the separatists more autonomy.

Stop propaganda and prove your commitment for Muslims- Hakeem

SLMC Rauff Hakeem told media in Kandy yesterday, just after the conclusion of the Workshop for party seniors out side North and East "although we are in a position to announce our decision prior to nominations are closed, the discussions with candidates might delay the announcement. We need to discuss and enter into a written agreement with a candidate before we could announce our final decision". "The candidate who will be supported by the SLMC will win, it is our crucial decision that will decide who is the next president. The candidate who will agree to our key demands that would be put forward by us in the better interest of the community will get our support" he noted. "It is disheartening to see the two major contenders for the presidency are continuously stating that the Muslim community is not united and that prevents them doing any betterment to the community, by keeping all sections satisfied. I urge both of them to stop this injurious propaganda immediately and prove their commitment and concern for the Muslim community" Hakeem added. "Today, lot of dissidents who are prominent politicians, negotiating to re-join the SLMC, they are not waiting to see which candidate the party is going to support, but because they are aware that the majority of the community will adhere to the party's decision, they seek to join prior to our decision is announced, this shows the SLMC's credibility. Divisions and splits are everywhere today; there isn't a single community or party without these. Singling out the Muslim community is very injurious to them. I urge both of them to speak of what they could do this community instead, if they were to seek the support of Muslims during the polls" Hakeem added.

The last of a series of workshops by SLMC to obtain the views of the party's district, village level organisers and people's representatives out side North East, on the presidential election was held at the Digana Village resort in Kandy. The party men unanimously adopted a resolution and empowered Hakeem to make the final decision on the forth coming presidential election.