Sri Lankan leader's party to support Rajapaksa in polls

Sri Lanka's president will stay neutral in the upcoming presidential election but his party will back a breakaway party candidate, front-runner Gotabaya Rajapaksa, officials said Wednesday.

Sri Lanka Freedom Party General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara said President Maithripala Sirisena has temporarily stepped aside from leading the party to ensure his neutrality. He said the decision was made because questions could arise about the impartiality of police, which Sirisena oversees.

The move is seen as an attempt by the ramshackle party to stay relevant after losing a majority of its loyalists to the breakaway Sri Lanka People's Front, which Rajapaksa is using to contest the election.

Supporters listen to Sri Lankan presidential candidate and former defense chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his maiden election campaign rally in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019.Sri Lanka's president will stay neutral in the upcoming presidential election but his party will back a breakaway party candidate, front-runner Gotabaya Rajapaksa, officials said Wednesday. ( AP PhotoSajeewa Chinthaka)

It is the first time that the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the country's second-largest for more than six decades, has not fielded a candidate in a major national election.

Party Vice President Mahinda Samarasinghe told reporters that the decision to support Rajapaksa, a former defense chief, was made with the backdrop of the volatile security situation following Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed more than 260 people.

"He is a proven administrator," Samarasinghe said.

Rajapaksa, who served under his brother, former strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is popular among majority Sinhalese for his part in ending a long civil war against ethnic minority Tamil rebels a decade ago. He has been accused of condoning rights abuses.

Rajapaksa said at his inaugural election rally in the northwestern town of Anuradhapura on Wednesday that he will ensure the release of all soldiers being held for alleged human rights violations as soon as he is elected.

The step, if carried out, would reverse the current government's commitment to the U.N. Human Rights Council that alleged rights violations by both government soldiers and the Tamil Tiger rebels will be investigated, and courts will be set up to try suspects with the help of international prosecutors and judges.

He said he and the soldiers freed the country from the Tamil Tigers, and "a large number of soldiers who committed themselves to this cause have been falsely accused and put in prisons."

"I want to say at this moment that on the morning of Nov. 17, all of them will be freed," he said.

The decision by Sirisena's party to back Rajapaksa came after Sirisena decided not to seek reelection, apparently finding it difficult to beat Rajapaksa.

A record 35 candidates filed nominations on Monday for the Nov. 16 election, with Rajapaksa considered the favorite.

The April 21 suicide attacks by seven Muslim militants also boosted Rajapaksa's fortunes, with many people praising his wartime role against the secessionist rebels. Sri Lankan leaders and the security establishment have been under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence reports of possible attacks ahead of the bombings.

Sirisena has said he was kept in the dark about the reports and appointed a presidential commission to investigate the lapses.

National police chief Pujith Jayasundara was suspended and former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando resigned. Both were later arrested after the presidential commission found grounds to charge them with dereliction of duties and criminal negligence. They were released on bail but on Wednesday a higher court canceled the bail and ordered them held in detention.

Associated Press writer Krishan Francis contributed to this report.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Athletics owner John Fisher and his family will invest $1 billion into the construction of a stadium in Las Vegas and U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs will offer a $300 million loan, club executive Sandy Dean said Thursday.

Dean made his remarks to a special meeting of the Las Vegas Stadium Authority board.

Dean said four letters will be presented at the Dec. 5 authority meeting asserting construction details and financing will be in place. Final approvals are expected to be made at that meeting to allow construction of the $1.5 billion, 30,000-seat domed ballpark with a capacity for up to 33,000 fans.

“We feel like we're on the right path and it will become clearer in the months ahead,” Dean told the board.

Construction is expected to begin in the spring with a targeted opening before the 2028 season. As much as $380 million in public funding will go into building the stadium, which will be on the Las Vegas Strip on the site of where the recently demolished Tropicana stood.

Dean said Fisher is still pursuing partners in the Las Vegas area who can purchase stakes in the franchise, which in turn goes toward paying for the stadium.

“We've been consistent in saying it would be good coming to Las Vegas to have outside partners from Las Vegas,” Dean said after the meeting. “That process has just begun. The ability to finance the stadium is independent of that.”

As for the financing, the four letters that will be presented at the December meeting will better address that.

The first is the loan commitment from U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs. Dean said it probably would be a five-year term “that would be replaced by a permanent loan once construction is done.”

Another letter, Dean said, asserts the Fisher and his family have the ability to meet their financial commitment. Dean said the third letter from U.S. Bank will show that through a review of the owner's finances that it “concludes the Fisher family has more than sufficient resources to fund the equity investment that's required to build the stadium.”

The fourth laid out the commitments to Athletics StadCo LLC, an entity created to handle the private capital investment.

Also, the draft lease agreement and deed were presented to the board.

“We feel like these documents are on track for the schedule that we have been talking about for a number of months,” said Steve Hill, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. “We feel like there's a real possibility we'll be able to reach a conclusion on all of them on Dec. 5.”

Dean said an updated construction budget will be presented at that day's meeting, and he acknowledged the final cost likely will rise “by something.”

Hill said documents would be made public several days before the December meeting and he didn't anticipate any issues regarding approval.

“There are a couple of places where we need to get the language right, but we've had enough of a conversation to understand that everybody understands what the outcome is intended to be," Hill said.

He cited ensuring details regarding parking as an example of getting all the proper wording in place.

The A's will play at least the next three seasons in West Sacramento, California. The club announced it will play 60 of its 81 home games next season at night, tying the 1968 A's for the most in their history. That includes 25 of 28 games at night in June and July when temperatures are often 100 degrees (37.8 Celsius) or hotter.

Their first game in Sacramento is March 31 against the Chicago Cubs.

The A's played their last of 57 seasons in Oakland, California.

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FILE - Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., April 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)