The former General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake, has warned that the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena has signed an agreements with the Tamil National Alliance, despite its “extremist” policies, reported the DailyMirror.

“I have serious doubts about the MOUs signed with different extremist groups such as the TNA, JHU and the JVP. The common opposition will be obliged to satisfy the extremist Tamil groups and the Tamil Diaspora. These pledges are extremely dangerous for the national security and the sovereignty of the country. We do not know what the opposition has promised but we have a right to know,” Attanayake said.

“The opposition was a coalition of strange bedfellows who profess different extremist policies. I do not understand how the JHU, TNA and the JVP can campaign to achieve a common objective.”

Attanayake, who is backing Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election next month, says he joined the incumbent’s camp to “save” the UNP from those who had “hijacked” his party.

The Tamil National Alliance MP Suresh Premachandran said on Monday that his party was unhappy with both candidates for the presidential elections next month.

Speaking to the DailyMirror, Premachandran said opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena had sent some negative signals to the Tamil people, while President Rajapaksa's party had indicated that it would not rely on Tamil votes from the North-East.

“There is no solution offered to the problems of the Tamil people. There is no plan to resettle displaced Tamils. It seems that the common candidate is endorsing the views of Sinhala extremist forces backing him. Let alone a political solution, there is no approach even to address day to day problems,” Mr. Premachandran said.

The forthcoming presidential elections bring a great risk of violence, due to the unexpectedly close contest that is now anticipated between the candidates, said the International Crisis Group in its latest briefing.

“The opposition’s attempt to reopen democratic space also brings with it risks of violence and instability” says Alan Keenan, the organisation’s senior analyst on Sri Lanka.

“The tighter the race, the more violent it threatens to be.”

The report warns that extra-constitutional measures, including the use of the military, under the direct control of the president and his brother, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, are possible if Sirisena’s challenge to President Rajapaksa looks likely to be successful.

The ICG in the report highlights the absence of Tamil rights issues and power sharing from the opposition platform and says that it is uncertain whether Tamils will be motivated to vote for the “avowedly Sinhala-Buddhist” candidate, Maithripala Sirisena.

Core questions around national identity, including devolution, accountability and the equal status of Tamils and Muslims will remain contentious whichever candidate wins the election, the report says.