Sri Lanka slashes energy prices

COLOMBO, Oct 9 (AFP): Sri Lanka's president slashed gas prices by 10 per cent on Thursday after making hefty cuts to fuel and electricity tariffs that have been widely seen as sweeteners ahead of snap elections.
President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered treasury chief Punchi Banda Jayasundera to reduce gas prices by just over 10 per cent, the government information department said.
Speculation that Rajapakse will call a snap presidential poll has mounted, after his party opened an election campaign office last month.
The move came after the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance saw its vote plummet by over 20 per centage points in local elections.
Rajapakse gained popularity among the majority Buddhist Sinhalese-speaking community by crushing Tamil separatists in May 2009, but rising hate attacks and human rights issues have alienated minority communities.
The president has the power to call an election before completing his second six-year term, which is due to end in November 2016.
Ruling party seniors have privately argued that it would be advantageous for him to do so before his popularity wanes further.
The government on Tuesday brought forward the 2015 budget by a month to October 24, in a further indication it is preparing to go to the polls in January.
But at a conference in Colombo, Jayasundera denied the budget would contain "election goodies", saying that it would be "a development-oriented budget".
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.