Rajapakshe recieves another blow

Sri Lanka's main Muslim party yesterday quit the government and pledged support to the opposition in a move seen as the biggest setback yet to President Mahinda Rajapakse's re-election bid.

The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauf Hakeem also announced his own resignation as justice minister and said he would now work for the victory of Maithripala Sirisena, the opposition candidate in the January 8 election.

Hakeem said they left the government because of festering differences over a 2010 law that lifted the two-term limit on the presidency and gave Rajapakse wide powers over the police, the judiciary and the civil service.

There was no immediate comment from the government.