Sri Lanka’s Largest Muslim Party Defects From Government to Support Opposition Candidate
Ameer Faaiz, an official of the party that represents minority Muslims in overwhelmingly Buddhist Sri Lanka, cited the Rajapaksa administration’s “intolerance toward religious minorities” and disagreement with his style of rule.
He said the party consulted its supporters, who were of the overwhelming opinion that they could no longer stand with Rajapaksa and that they would throw their support behind his rival Maithripala Sirisena.
An attack on Muslims in June that was provoked by a Sri Lankan Buddhist ultranationalist and left three dead and dozens injured exacerbated ethnic tensions in the aftermath of a decades-long civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in 2009.
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