(Pictures: @ananthysasi)

Flooding has hit low-lying and coastal areas on the Jaffna peninsula, after several days of torrential downpours.

Several camps for internally displaced people, who were displaced by military high security zones and the tsunami, are affected by the floods and residents have been temporarily resettled in schools, churches and other public buildings.

Hundreds of families from Kaarainnagar, Kalaiboomi, Sethengulam and Valithoondal, and IDP camps in Alavetti South, Konappulam, Sapabathipillai, Kankani have been moved to shelters in the regions, reported the Uthayan.

The common opposition's candidate for the presidential elections next month Maithripala Sirisena says he will restore all military decorations and civic rights of former army commander Sarath Fonseka, who was arrested and stripped of his honours after he ran against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010.

“I will restore all rights and military decorations of former army commander within hours of my election,” Sirisena said.

The presidential candidate said Gen Fonseka, who is thought to hold command responsibility for mass atrocities committed in 2009, is "venerated" by the masses.

"The Rajapaksas disparaged the general and attempted to paint a black picture of the war hero, but they could not hoodwink the masses and today General Fonseka is venerated by the members of the security forces and masses," he said.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa says he will remain president of Sri Lanka after next month's presidential elections, despite being challenged by someone from his own party.

Rajapaksa,addressing a rally in Embilipitiya, said he does not need to sign multiple MoUs with his coalition partners, unlike his challenger Maithripala Sirisena.

He said his government is united behind one cause and it is thus unnecessary to sign separate agreements with his constituent parties.

Tamil organisations from the homeland and diaspora gathered in the US last month to discuss the next stage of achieving accountability and justice for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The annual Illankai Tamil Sangam conference, spread over a weekend in New Jersey, consisted of panel discussions on issues pertaining to issues affecting Tamils in Sri Lanka. Possible ways forward after the release of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) investigation report into Sri Lanka, were discussed by all attendees.

The event was attended by several Tamil organisations and individuals including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), British Tamils Forum (BTF), Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), Federation of Tamil Sangams in North America (FeTNA), Global Tamil Forum (GTF), Illankai Tamil Sangam, National Council of Canadian Tamils (NCCT), Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) and the US Tamil Political Action Committee (USTPAC).
 
 A visiting professor at Temple University Philadelphia, A.R.M Imtiaz, who has written extensively about Muslims in Sri Lanka, led further talks on justice and recognition of Muslim sentiment by Tamils.

A Sri Lankan government MP has called on the public not to vote for “traitors” and to back incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa, at the upcoming presidential election.

“It is the public that have to decide whether to prolong the freedom that we are enjoying now or to get ensnared in the cruel grip of the LTTE,” said External Affairs Ministry Monitoring MP Sajin Vas Gunawardena.

Hailing Rajapaksa, Gunawardena went on to add,

The Catholic Church has reiterated calls for Sri Lankan authorities to remove presidential election posters which feature the image of Pope Francis with incumbent Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ahead of a visit by the Pope next month.

The Church’s statement comes after the director for the media and information center for the Pope’s visit urged Sri Lankan parties last week to refrain from using the pope’s image to further their election campaigns.

The Sri Lankan common opposition presidential candidate said that he rejects calls from Tamil leaders for a federal constitution that granted greater powers of autonomy to the predominantly Tamil speaking North-East, reports the Associated Press.

In a meeting led by a Buddhist monk at the National Heritage Party on Tuesday, opposition candidate, Maithripala Sirisena, further pledged to preserve constitutional prominence given to Buddhism, as part of an agreement to guarantee support from the National Heritage Party in the upcoming presidential elections.