Turmoil in the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) over who to support at the Sri Lankan presidential elections has threatened to tear the party apart, as senior figures continue to contradict themselves this week.

Current chairman Mavai Senathirajah told reporters that the party's “official” stance would be revealed this weekend, after the central committee of the party met last week and seemingly endorsed Sajith Premadasa for the upcoming polls.

Sri Lanka police have sought a court order to prohibit commemorations and memorials in honour of  Lt Col Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE, whose 37th death anniversary falls on September 26. He fasted to death, in a protest appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to delay its next review of Sri Lanka ahead of presidential polls that are scheduled to be held this month.

Julie Kozack, Director of the IMF Communications Department, highlighted the ongoing challenges during a recent discussion, stating, "Important vulnerabilities do remain, and sustaining reform momentum is going to be essential" for Sri Lanka as it recovers from its worst economic crisis.

Sri Lankan presidential aspirant Namal Rajapaksa, son of accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, firmly stated that there would be no merger of the North and East, nor would land or police powers be granted under a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) government.

Sri Lankan police have arrested Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren as he and his team campaigned for a boycott of the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential elections in Kilinochchi this morning.

Kajendren and other members of the TNPF have repeatedly been harassed by the Sri Lankan security forces in recent weeks.

A new report by the Oakland Institute looking at Trincomalee, a city once dubbed the capital of Tamil Eelam, has found that over the last 12 months, there has been rapidly escalating colonization of the Tamil homeland.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Tissa Kuttiarachchi claimed there is a conspiracy to assassinate former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and that threats form the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were still present despite their defeat in 2009, as this months polls draw closer.

The lawmaker, speaking at a rally in Hiriyale, claimed that although the LTTE was militarily defeated, the threat is not completely over.

International journalists attempting to travel to Sri Lanka and cover the upcoming presidential elections have faced visa delays or even outright refusals in recent weeks, as tension continues to build on the island ahead of the polls.

The People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) released a new legal briefing paper this week that states out and proves that the Sri Lankan government and military committed genocide against the Tamil people in 2009.

The repor, released to coincide with UN Human Rights Council’s 57th session, comes to the legal conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to prove genocidal intent by the Government of Sri Lanka against the Tamil people from January through May 18, 2009.

Sri Lankan police in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Mullaitivu, blocked Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) MP Selvarajah Kajendren as he and his team campaigned for a boycott of the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential elections. 

This marks the third time in less than three weeks that the Sri Lankan police have made a concentrated effort to block the TNPF from campaigning in the North-East.