2005 had been an extremely sad Christmas for Sri Lanka and UNP Kandy, as the nation was still captured by the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, when the vultures of war had started once again to gear up for the final chapter of a very bloody civil war.
Everyone knew, that the 2005 election was rigged by the Tamil Tigers, who had not allowed millions of Tamils to deliver their vote to their usually preferred peace treaty creator Ranil.
That's why the less moderate and current president, the Hon Mahinda Rajapakse had won the election with a small lead of only 180.000 votes and the entire nation already knew right away, that both leaders were ready for a brutal showdown.
At that time it had been impressive how well the Tamils and Sinhalese in Kandy had lived together and to see that a lot of the Tiger's propaganda had been defamation and lies when saying that both ethnic groups are unable to live together peacefully.
Even at times when the Tiger's bomb blast had been frequent and often devastating it never accord that the Singhalese as a whole had a grudge against Tamils.
Of course, the Tamil Tigers and their black widows with those infamous suicide bras had not been any popular, but still the vast majority were able to differentiate between neighbor citizens and LTTE member.
