S Lankan ruling party prepares for snap poll

COLOMBO, Sept 25 (AFP): Sri Lanka's ruling party began work Thursday on an election campaign, party sources said, in a strong indication that it will press ahead with snap presidential polls expected in early January.
The move came despite the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) suffering a sharp decline in a local election held at the weekend that was seen as a gauge for presidential polls.
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapakse inaugurated an "Operations Centre" to lead his brother President Mahinda Rajapakse's bid for a third term in office, the sources said.
"Basil cut a blue ribbon (the colour of the party) to launch the office at the astrologically auspicious time of 10:01 am (0431 GMT) and commence work," a party official at the ceremony told AFP.
Presidential elections are due by November 2016, but Rajapakse has the power to call them at any time. Candidates need more than 50 per cent of the vote to win.
The UPFA saw its vote plummet by over 20 per centage points in elections on Saturday for the Uva Provincial council in which the main opposition United National Party (UNP) more than doubled its vote.
It was the party's worst performance since Rajapakse came to power in 2005.
"The feeling is that the longer you delay, the worse it will get for the president," a senior UPFA source told AFP, adding that the presidential election was "most likely to be held in the second week of January."
If held in the first half of January, the elections would come just before a visit by Pope Francis, who has announced he will be on the island from January 13 to 15.
The Roman Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has asked all politicians not to use the papal visit as a political tool in their campaigning to secure votes from the 7.5 per cent of the population that is Christian.