Ravana Balaya, a Sinhala Buddhist organisation, announced that it will be supporting incumbent Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the forthcoming presidential elections, on Sunday.

ColomboPage reported that the announcement was made at the annual Ravana Balaya congress that was held in Colombo. The leader of the organisation, Buddhist monk Iththakande Saddhathissa, reportedly vowed to defeat opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, stating that his candidacy was an attempt to cause division amongst Sinhala leaders.

The announcement follows another Sinhala Buddhist group, Boda Bala Sena, pledging their “unconditional support” to Mahinda Rajapaksa. See more here.

Also see more of Ravana Balaya's activities in the past year in our earlier posts:

"Recently, societal ills have increased amongst youths [in Jaffna]. Sword fights and gang fights have increased. I produced the Maaveerar Naal posters to show the LTTE was still present, as no one would engage in such activities, if they felt they were around."

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), a former coalition partner in President Rajapaksa's UPFA, has announced it will sign a memorandum of understanding with the opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, after which they will actively support his campaign, the Daily Mirror reported.

The JHU, made up of Buddhist monks, said to the paper that Sirisena had given a positive response to the proposals put forward by the party, the same proposals which were rejected by Mahinda Rajapaksa, causing the monks to quit the coalition.

The Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena has declared its support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the forthcoming presidential election, reported The Island.

General Secretary Gnanasara told media that the BBS pledged unconditional support to Rajapaksa.

The opposition candidate at the presidential election, Maithripala Sirisena said that he would not allow the international community or the Tamil diaspora to take President Mahinda Rajapaksa, or anyone else to face war crimes charges, the Daily Mirror reports.

“I will not allow President Rajapaksa, his family or any member of our armed forces to be taken before any international war crimes tribunal,” Sirisena said to reporters.

Speaking to media on behalf of the common opposition, Sirisena said he would implement a “proper reconciliation” plan, to heal divisions amongst the different communities.

The Tamil National Alliance has called for the release of the three Eelam-Tamil fishermen, who remain on death row after their conviction for drug trafficking.

Another 5 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were convicted alongside them, were released after a presidential pardon was granted.

TNA leader R Sampanthan requested President Mahinda Rajapaksa to release the fishermen, saying that it was important to serve justice equally and it was unacceptable that a group of people involved in the same crime were granted an amnesty and another group is still tried for the crime, the Uthayan reported.