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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AtulaSiriwardane" data-source="post: 6563034" data-attributes="member: 120286">Four words summed up the outlook for retired general Sarath Fonseka when he  boarded a black BMW and sped away from his hotel last night as the emphatic  loser in Sri Lanka’s presidential election.   “I’m going to hell,” he told The Times with a dry  smile when asked what he would do now that Mahinda Rajapaksa, the incumbent,  had been declared winner in the first poll since the Tamil Tigers’ defeat in  May.   As the former army chief who led the campaign against the Tigers, the general  had been assigned 70 soldiers and ten vehicles to protect him from an attack  by the rebels’ remnants or successors. Once the results were out, however,  his bodyguard was ordered back to barracks — a nail in the coffin for a man  who still bears the scars of an assassination attempt in 2006.   After a tense stand-off with troops surrounding the hotel, the defeated  general sped off to an unspecified destination in a motorcade of only five  cars carrying mostly civilian aides. His departure capped a day of a  political melodrama that confirmed President Rajapaksa’s unassailable grip  on power on this island, but undermined its once proud status as South  Asia’s oldest democracy.                              It began in the early hours when troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel  — a popular British tourist haunt where the general and other opposition  leaders had moved their campaign headquarters the previous night. The reason  for the army’s move, it said, was that the general had an entourage of 400  people, including armed deserters, who were possibly planning a coup. “They  are highly trained military people,” said Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, an  army spokesman. “We are suspicious about their gathering.”    The general denied using deserters and handed over nine retired soldiers but  the military cordon remained in place to the bemusement of tourists and  guests attending a wedding inside the hotel.   By midday it was clear that Mr Rajapska had won as much as 60 per cent of the  vote, but the general stayed silent, locked in consultations with the  opposition politicians who had backed him. Finally, he emerged from his room  to announce that he rejected the results and had sent a letter to the  independent election commissioner asking him to nullify the poll. “Victory  has been grabbed away from us by the Government,” he said, adding that he  would mount a legal challenge. “There is no democracy here.”   He accused Mr Rajapaksa of using the state media to attack him,  misappropriating public funds for his campaign and preventing displaced  Tamils from voting.   Even as he was speaking, the final results were being announced by Dayananda  Dissanayake, the Election Commissioner, dashing opposition hopes that the  general could split the vote of the ethnic Sinhalese majority and win enough  support from minority Tamils and Muslims to deny Mr Rajapaksa another six  years in power.   Mr Dissanayake appeared to agree with the opposition’s complaints, saying that  state media had violated his guidelines and other government institutions  had behaved in an embarrassing way. But he is unlikely to review the result  because he declared his intention to resign immediately. “I request to be  released,” he said yesterday. “I cannot bear this any more.”    Mr Rajapaksa, who came to power in 2005, dismissed such concerns and promised  to rebuild ties with Western countries, which have distanced themselves over  alleged war crimes during the conflict with the Tigers.   He also said that General Fonseka’s life was not in danger. But with no sign  of protests to support him, and no security to protect him, analysts said  the general had few options but to drop his challenge or head overseas.   He admitted as much earlier in the day, saying the removal of his security  detail would leave him as “naked prey”. He has residency rights in the US  and two daughters studying in Oklahoma. One opposition leader suggested the  General might head to India when he said he was meeting a foreign diplomat  “from a neigbouring country” to negotiate safe passage.   As he prepared to confront the troops outside the hotel last night the general  insisted he would continue his political career. But he admitted his options  were limited. “Actually I might see you in the UK,” he told The  Times. “I might need asylum there.”</blockquote>

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