The Moment

Sarath Fonseka was a brilliant general, but the faculties that brought him victory over Tamil separatists in the country's 26-year civil war deserted him in politics. By standing in January's presidential election as the head of a motley coalition that included Marxists, Muslims and vanquished Tamils, Fonseka intended to offer a legitimate challenge to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. All Fonseka did was outrage him. Now, the former general has been arrested on unspecified charges of conspiring against the government. Rajapaksa's administration is often accused of alleged abuses (including extrajudicial killings of Tamils and journalists), but he was easily re-elected on a wave of postwar euphoria. By neutralizing his erstwhile chief of staff, and also dissolving Parliament ahead of legislative polls, he has pressed home his victory decisively. Unable to mount a credible opposition, Rajapaksa's critics will soon find their horizons curtailed. For Fonseka, they have already been reduced to the walls of a cell.

Read "Sri Lankan Opposition Leader Arrested."

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