Wickramasinghe says he lost due to Rajapaksa's "secret pact" with LTTE

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe said the result of the election was affected as LTTE forced Tamils in the north and east to boycott the election.

Referring to a report on the election by the European monitors, Wickramasinghe said, it looks as if President Mahinda Rajapaksa had a "secret deal" with the Tigers to prevent the former becoming the head of state.

Enforced boycott

Rajapaksa won by a slim majority at the November 2005 presidential elections.

The Tigers forced the Tamils under their control to boycott the elections.

	Rajapaksa won by a slim majority in 2005 elections

Wickramasinghe claims Tamils might have voted for him, one of the architects of the 2002 February truce with the Tamil Tigers.

Wickramasinghe said the parliamentarians from Tamil National Alliance (TNA) also urged the Tamil population to boycott the elections.

"The LTTE engaged in violence, threatened voters, distributed leaflets asking voters to boycott the elections," Wickramasinghe told journalists in Colombo.

He alleged that the boycott was not organised "solely" by the Tamil Tigers.

Evidence of "the deal"

Former minister Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi told BBC Sandeshaya that he has information on President Rajapaksa's deal with LTTE to boycott the elections.

"We will reveal all the document and the tapes in due course," Sooriyaarachchi told bbcsinhala.com days after he was sacked by President Rajapaksa.

On the one hand, he signs an MoU with JVP to abrogate CFA. On the other hand, he make deals with LTTE to boycott the elections and divide Sri Lanka. Ranil Wickramasinghe

Sooriyaarachchi is accused by Rajapaksa of working with the Tamil tigers to destabilise the country.

Wickramasinghe alleged that Rajapaksa was playing a "double game" with the Sinhala nationalist Peoples Liberation Front (JVP) and the LTTE.

"On the one hand, he signs an MoU with JVP to abrogate CFA," Wickramasinghe said.

"On the other hand, he make deals with LTTE to boycott the elections and divide Sri Lanka".