Sri Lanka Proposes Ban On Religious-Themed Political Parties

In Sri Lanka, in the wake of the government's victory in May in its 25-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has proposed changes in the country's Parliamentary Elections Act. Aiming at small and regional political parties, he has proposed a ban on political parties whose names signify an ethnic or religious group. The Island today reports that the proposal calling for the Election Commissioner to deny legal recognition to such parties is an attempt to create a national identity in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious country.