With the police and judiciary more fully politicised since then, the chances of a free and fair election are remote. The independent election commission was abolished in 2010, and the election commissioner’s many past calls to respect election law have had little effect. September’s provincial council elections in Uva province featured high levels of violence against the opposition. The stakes for the Rajapaksas are even higher than in 2010, given their many new domestic enemies and the growing international pressure over their failure to investigate alleged war crimes and serious human rights violations during the war.
