Sri Lankan priest urges honest candidates in poll

(Vatican Radio) People from Sri Lanka are voting in new parliamentary elections on Monday (17 August). The polls come six years after the civil war between government forces and separatist Tamil guerrillas came to an end. The conflict lasted for 26 years and claimed the life of 70,000 people.

Father Cyril Gamini, National Director of Social Communication for the Catholic Church in Colombo, said that the Church was urging people to cast a vote for candidates who were honest and free from any involvement in crime.

He told Claire Gilbody Dickerson that one of the new government’s biggest challenges is doing more to promote reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities after the long and bitter civil war.

 

Listen to the interview with Father Cyril Gamini from Archdiocese of Colombo: 

 

Father Gamini said that one of the main issues at stake in these elections is “developing” the country after almost 30 years of civil war.

In addition, he said that the Church urged people to be “calm and peaceful during and after the elections”, as they didn’t want any more violence.