REFUGEE

General Sarath Fonseka accuses incumbent of being a dictator for failing to return country to normality after civil war

General Sarath Fonseka announces his presidential candidacy in Colombo. Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka's former army chief announced today he will run for president as head of a coalition of opposition parties.

General Sarath Fonseka's forces swept through the jungles of northern Sri Lanka and crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May. He resigned two weeks ago, accusing the government of sidelining him after the end of the long-running civil war.

In his first news conference as a politician, Fonseka accused the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, of being a dictator for failing to return the country to normality at the end of the war. He alleged that the government was curtailing media freedom and dragging its feet on resettling war refugees – echoing complaints from international rights groups.

"We have done away with the terrorists. But now you can't leave the country in the hands of a tin-pot dictator," he said.

Questions have been raised about Fonseka's conduct during the war. This month, US officials tried to question him over alleged human rights abuses by his forces. A state department report said military attacks on civilians and hospitals could amount to war crimes.

Fonseka said he had never covered up any illegal activity in the army during the war. He pledged to abolish the powerful executive presidency and return power to parliament in six months, and to take measures to curb corruption and restore democracy.

Fifteen opposition parties – all with little hope of defeating Rajapaksa on their own – have said they would support Fonseka in the election, scheduled for 26 January.

Rajapaksa, who still has two years left in his six-year term, called the early elections to take advantage of his popularity after the military ended the civil war. In a series of recent local elections, Rajapaksa's coalition has won control of all eight provincial assemblies.