The spectre of the LTTE is “is always raised by the Sinhala-majority political parties, ahead of an election” notes R.K. Radhakrishnan in Frontline magazine on Tuesday, after a former Tamil fighter was arrested in Kilinochchi this week.

"Although there has been no terror incident involving the Tamils in Sri Lanka since the conclusion of the war between the Sri Lankan state and the Tamil Tigers in 2009, the LTTE bogey is always raised by the Sinhala-majority political parties, ahead of an election,” he writes. “It is no different for the presidential election to be held on November 16.”

A former LTTE cadre was arrested on Saturday after Sri Lankan police claimed to have received a tip-off that he was hoarding weapons.

<p>UNP Presidential candidate, Sajith Premadasa has called for the implementation of death penalties on “terrorists”.</p> <p>Speaking at the New Democratic Front rally in Nittambuwa, the presidential candidate said;&nbsp;</p> <blockquote><p> "The death penalty must not be regulated it must be implemented,” </p></blockquote> <p>His call for the death penalty was followed by calls for greater surveillance in order to “defeat terrorism”.</p> <blockquote><p> "Information must be obtained from individuals in all communities who have a great vision for the country,"&nbsp; </p></blockquote>

Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary and frontrunner in next months’ presidential elections Gotabaya Rajapaksa has vowed to reject a UN Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for mass atrocities, which the current government has co-sponsored.

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Five Tamil political parties signed a memorandum today, highlighting key demands of Tamils, which are to be presented to all of Sri Lanka's leading presidential candidates.

The demands have been formulated in order to help decide the position of Tamils in the upcoming Presidential election. 

The key demands include:

As thousands of Kurds marched through London during a mass demonstration against the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish regions of Northern Syria, Eelam Tamils joined the rally to express solidarity in their struggle for freedom.

The head of Malaysia’s Counter Terrorism Division has admitted that security forces are monitoring the activities of Tamil Nadu politician Senthamizhan Seeman, as authorities continued to crack down on Tamil activity they claim is linked to the LTTE.

Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa remains the “spiritual leader” of Sri Lanka, claimed his brother and former minister Basil Rajapaksa, in an interview with The Hindu this week.

“No matter who our candidate or President is, our leader [Mahinda Rajapaksa] will the head of the government [as PM],” claimed Basil. “So, this arrangement suits us well. He is our leader, and he is the spiritual leader of our country.”

Direct flights connecting Chennai and Jaffna will be launched as a new international airport opens in the region, reports The Hindu, with a test flight scheduled from Palaly later this week.

Sri Lankan presidential election candidate and former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has vowed to increase powers given to military intelligence, as candidates vie for nationalist Sinhala Buddhist votes.

“We will give due powers to the intelligence officers and also the necessary legal cover to perform their duties,” Rajapaksa is quoted by AP as saying at an election rally this week. He also pledged to revive the “country’s crippled defence mechanism.”