EAST AND INDIA
இந்திய விஸ்தரிப்புவாதத்தின் ஆதாரத் தூணான இந்து பத்திரிகையின் நிலைப்பாடு இந்திய அரசின் நிலைப்பாடே!
LTTE non-committal on India as facilitator
The LTTE is non-committal on accepting India as a facilitator to a future peace process. There were reports earlier that India has a pivotal role to play in a future peace process with Norwegian facilitators too voicing such sentiments. The former head of the IIGEP and former Indian Supreme Court Chief Justice, N. Bhagwati was reported as stating that India will accept the role of facilitator if the
government and the LTTE agreed to it. Head of the LTTE Peace Secretariat, S. Puleedevan however, remained non-committal on whether they preferred the Norwegians as facilitators or would agree to a larger role by India on the peace process. Norwegian facilitators are not allowed to carry out a minimum level of dialogue with the Tigers, LTTE Peace Secretariat Head S. Puleedevan told The Sunday
Leader last week. He stated that none of the requests made by Norwegian facilitators to meet the LTTE political leadership in Kilinochchi were accepted by the government. "We have been in touch with the Norwegian facilitators. However, their requests to meet the LTTE political leadership in Kilinochchi have been denied by the government. Norwegian Special Envoy Jon Hanssen Bauer also wanted to meet us. But, the government put down his request," he said. "The Sri Lankan government has ignored the Norwegians' requests and are going for a military solution."
“LTTE continues to use T.N. as a supply base”
Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI: The Centre has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as an unlawful association by two years. The notification to this
effect was issued on Wednesday, according to a Home Ministry release here.
The LTTE, an association based in Sri Lanka, has sympathisers, supporters and agents on Indian soil. The group’s objective for a separate homeland for all Tamils
threatens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the notification said.
It said the LTTE continues to be an “extremely potent, most lethal and well organised terrorist force in Sri Lanka and has strong connections in Tamil Nadu and
certain other pockets of southern India.”
The LTTE also continues to use Tamil Nadu as the base for carrying out smuggling of essential items like petrol and diesel besides drugs to Sri Lanka.
The notification said the LTTE will continue to remain a “strong terrorist movement and stimulate the secessionist sentiment to enhance the support base of the LTTE
in Tamil Nadu as long as Sri Lanka continues to remain in a state of ethnic strife, torn by the demand for Tamil Eelam which finds strong echo in Tamil Nadu due to
the linguistic, cultural, ethnic and historical affinity between the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
The LTTE, led by V. Prabhakaran, has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several countries including the U.S. It was also involved in the assassination of
the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, in May 1991.
Opinion - Editorials The Hindu 130508
Bullet to ballot
The relatively violence-free conduct of the first ever election to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) is a feather in the cap of the Mahinda Rajapaksa
government. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which teamed up with the breakaway LTTE group led by Pillayan, has emerged victorious with 20 of
the 37 seats. The opposition parties have charged the government with large-scale electoral irregularities. The reports of independent observer groups provide some
support to such complaints. However, the fact that the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) combine polled over 42 per cent
of the votes cast indicates that the charge of large-scale rigging has no leg to stand on. Quite apart from who won and who lost, the EPC election has far-going
political significance. The very fact of an elected council coming into existence, after a gap of two decades, in a province that was the theatre of war between the
security forces and the LTTE less than a year ago is cause for cheer to all who believe that democracy and genuine devolution of power are the solution to Sri
Lanka’s principal national question. The constitution of a democratically elected government in the Eastern Province will also set at rest the controversy triggered by
the October 2006 judgment of the Sri Lanka Supreme Court declaring the merger of north and east, effected after the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, to be illegal.
Now that the EPC is a political fait accompli, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the winning alliance must move forward quickly to give meaning to the devolution
exercise. They must respect the rights of the democratically elected opposition and accommodate its legitimate demands. The choice of Chief Minister will be
watched with keen interest, especially because the Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhala populations are evenly balanced. Given the tensions involved in the past over the
demographic change brought about by state-sponsored colonisation, the sound and progressive course will be to go for a rotating arrangement in which the chief
ministership will be shared by the Muslim and Tamil groups that have done well at the polls. Providing security to all the displaced people, rehabilitating them, and
rebuilding the war-affected areas must be taken up as top priorities. Finally, there is the tricky task of disarming the militant groups, especially the cadres of the
breakaway LTTE, and integrating them in civil society and democratic politics. What all this demands is far-sighted political statesmanship by an administration that
has proved highly effective in the military field.
Bullet to ballot
The relatively violence-free conduct of the first ever election to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) is a feather in the cap of the Mahinda Rajapaksa
government. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which teamed up with the breakaway LTTE group led by Pillayan, has emerged victorious with 20 of
the 37 seats. The opposition parties have charged the government with large-scale electoral irregularities. The reports of independent observer groups provide some
support to such complaints. However, the fact that the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) combine polled over 42 per cent
of the votes cast indicates that the charge of large-scale rigging has no leg to stand on. Quite apart from who won and who lost, the EPC election has far-going
political significance. The very fact of an elected council coming into existence, after a gap of two decades, in a province that was the theatre of war between the
security forces and the LTTE less than a year ago is cause for cheer to all who believe that democracy and genuine devolution of power are the solution to Sri
Lanka’s principal national question. The constitution of a democratically elected government in the Eastern Province will also set at rest the controversy triggered by
the October 2006 judgment of the Sri Lanka Supreme Court declaring the merger of north and east, effected after the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord, to be illegal.
Now that the EPC is a political fait accompli, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the winning alliance must move forward quickly to give meaning to the devolution
exercise. They must respect the rights of the democratically elected opposition and accommodate its legitimate demands. The choice of Chief Minister will be
watched with keen interest, especially because the Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhala populations are evenly balanced. Given the tensions involved in the past over the
demographic change brought about by state-sponsored colonisation, the sound and progressive course will be to go for a rotating arrangement in which the chief
ministership will be shared by the Muslim and Tamil groups that have done well at the polls. Providing security to all the displaced people, rehabilitating them, and
rebuilding the war-affected areas must be taken up as top priorities. Finally, there is the tricky task of disarming the militant groups, especially the cadres of the
breakaway LTTE, and integrating them in civil society and democratic politics. What all this demands is far-sighted political statesmanship by an administration that
has proved highly effective in the military field.
Rajapaksa’s effort for consensus
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: The selection of the chief ministerial candidate of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to the newly constituted Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has been delayed.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in the process of reconciling the conflicting claims of TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan and M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, a former leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).
According to sources, Mr. Rajapaksa who returned from London on Wednesday has initiated consultations with the stake holders.
A suggestion doing the rounds is to rotate the post.
Separately, the military claimed that the LTTE has suffered “heavy losses” in the continuing battles along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the north.
Tamil United National Front leader V. Anandasangaree said the assassination of EPDP leader Maheshwari Velayutham was yet another act of cowardice by a terrorist group that claims to be a liberation movement.
“The killing had taken place in her native village Karaveddi where she had gone to see her ailing mother. Maheshwari can be acclaimed as a heroic Tamil woman because as far as I am aware, among the Jaffna Tamils, she is perhaps the only one next to Sarojini Yogeshwaran, to come out openly to do politics at grave risk to her life. Like Sarojini, the ex-Mayor of Jaffna, Maheshwari, was also killed at her residence,” Mr. Anandasangaree said in a statement.
B. Muralidhar Reddy
COLOMBO: The selection of the chief ministerial candidate of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) to the newly constituted Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) has been delayed.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is in the process of reconciling the conflicting claims of TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan and M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, a former leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC).
According to sources, Mr. Rajapaksa who returned from London on Wednesday has initiated consultations with the stake holders.
A suggestion doing the rounds is to rotate the post.
Separately, the military claimed that the LTTE has suffered “heavy losses” in the continuing battles along the Forward Defence Lines (FDLs) in the north.
Tamil United National Front leader V. Anandasangaree said the assassination of EPDP leader Maheshwari Velayutham was yet another act of cowardice by a terrorist group that claims to be a liberation movement.
“The killing had taken place in her native village Karaveddi where she had gone to see her ailing mother. Maheshwari can be acclaimed as a heroic Tamil woman because as far as I am aware, among the Jaffna Tamils, she is perhaps the only one next to Sarojini Yogeshwaran, to come out openly to do politics at grave risk to her life. Like Sarojini, the ex-Mayor of Jaffna, Maheshwari, was also killed at her residence,” Mr. Anandasangaree said in a statement.
May 11, 2008
Fear and Fraud Mar Elections in Sri Lanka
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New York Times -NYTVALAICHCHENAI, Sri Lanka (AP) — A climate of fear hung over elections in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province on Saturday after a series of attacks attributed to the Tamil Tiger rebels.
The voting was also marred by accusations of fraud and ballot-stuffing carried out apparently by supporters of the governing party.
The government promised that the balloting for a provincial assembly would herald a “new dawn” for the embattled region, which was under rebel control for 13
years, was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami and then suffered through a wide-ranging war before the military ousted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the area
last year.
The government has said the elected body will also give minority communities a degree of self-rule and negate rebel demands for an independent state.
But many here were skeptical that the election would change anything.
“I don’t believe it,” an unemployed 50-year-old woman who identified herself as Kannahi said after voting here. “I’ve heard that before.”
Asked for her last name, she laughed nervously. “If I tell, I might disappear in the night,” she said. “That’s how things happen here.”
The woman said her husband disappeared at a police checkpoint 18 years ago. She added that she had to pull her two sons out of high school and send them into
hiding so they would not be forcibly conscripted by the rebels.
“We need peace,” she said. “We should be able to sleep without fear our children will be taken away.”
A victory in a credible, violence-free election would be a big boost for the government’s morale as the economic and military toll grows from its continuing battle with
the rebels in the north.
But election monitors said the tension in the province and misconduct by the governing party made it impossible to call the vote free and fair.
The voting was also marred by accusations of fraud and ballot-stuffing carried out apparently by supporters of the governing party.
The government promised that the balloting for a provincial assembly would herald a “new dawn” for the embattled region, which was under rebel control for 13
years, was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami and then suffered through a wide-ranging war before the military ousted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the area
last year.
The government has said the elected body will also give minority communities a degree of self-rule and negate rebel demands for an independent state.
But many here were skeptical that the election would change anything.
“I don’t believe it,” an unemployed 50-year-old woman who identified herself as Kannahi said after voting here. “I’ve heard that before.”
Asked for her last name, she laughed nervously. “If I tell, I might disappear in the night,” she said. “That’s how things happen here.”
The woman said her husband disappeared at a police checkpoint 18 years ago. She added that she had to pull her two sons out of high school and send them into
hiding so they would not be forcibly conscripted by the rebels.
“We need peace,” she said. “We should be able to sleep without fear our children will be taken away.”
A victory in a credible, violence-free election would be a big boost for the government’s morale as the economic and military toll grows from its continuing battle with
the rebels in the north.
But election monitors said the tension in the province and misconduct by the governing party made it impossible to call the vote free and fair.
Hours before a local election, bomb kills 11 in Sri Lanka
The Associated Press IHTFriday, May 9, 2008 BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka:
The Associated Press IHTFriday, May 9, 2008 BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka:
Tamil Tiger rebels were suspected in the bombing of a café in eastern Sri Lanka on Friday, killing 11 people and casting a cloud over pivotal provincial elections scheduled for Saturday.
The government hailed the elections as a key step in restoring normalcy to the Eastern Province, which it freed from 13 years of Tamil Tiger rule last July.
But even before the attack, the opposition and independent observers raised questions about the polls, accusing the governing party of misconduct in its effort to
ensure a victory it sees as its rightful reward.
Opposition candidates said former rebels allied with the government threatened them to withdraw, promised retribution against their supporters and made it nearly
impossible to campaign.
"This election is a sham," said Rauff Hakeem, head of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which has formed an election alliance with the opposition United National
Party.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has portrayed the election as a tacit referendum on his costly battle to crush the rebels in their remaining stronghold in the north and end
this Indian Ocean island nation's 25-year civil war.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority in the north and east after decades of marginalization under
governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The military, with the help of a breakaway rebel faction known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, or TMVP,
seized control of the east last year.
In a reminder that the rebels could still carry out deadly attacks here, the military blamed the Tamil Tigers for a parcel bomb that exploded about 5:40 p.m in a small
restaurant in Ampara, one of the largest towns in the province.
"This is to sabotage the election tomorrow and to scare the people," said a military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a spokesman for the rebels, did not answer calls for comment.
The attack was carried out despite the presence of 28,000 police officers and an extra 4,000 soldiers sent to the province to secure the polls.
The governing party is running in a coalition with the former rebels of the TMVP, whom residents and human rights groups accuse of carrying out abductions and
killings, running extortion rings and forcibly recruiting children into their ranks.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, the government announced huge grants for the impoverished region and insisted an opposition victory would bring back rebel
rule.
"A vote for the government is a vote for peace and development. A vote for the opposition will be an endorsement of Prabhakaran," President Rajapaksa said of the
Tamil Tiger leader last week.
However, governing party officials were misusing government resources and the state media to bolster their chances, and tension in the province prevented many
candidates from campaigning, said Kingsley Rodrigo, head of the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, an independent election monitoring group.
"This is not a free and fair election," he said.
Arumugam Jagan, a 27-year-old Tamil construction contractor, said he decided to run for office after town council elections were held in March with little violence or
intimidation. But the main opposition parties boycotted those polls, leaving little competition for the government and the former rebels, who won in a rout.
After Jagan announced that he was running as an opposition candidate in these elections, TMVP leaders demanded that he drop out and threatened retribution against
him and his supporters, he said.
When he refused, his campaign posters were torn down or defaced.
He canceled all public rallies under threat, and some of his volunteers quit. Others were attacked as they campaigned, they said. Like many candidates, he was forced
to bring two police bodyguards with him on the campaign trail.
The head of the TMVP, known as Pillaiyan, denied threatening Jagan and accused him of trying to build an asylum claim to move abroad.
Pillaiyan said it was his party - not Jagan's - that had been victimized. He denied allegations his group was recruiting child soldiers and threatening voters. He said his
supporters remained armed - a key point of contention in the election - but only for self defense.
At a recent rally, a senior TMVP leader known as Jayam spoke to about 80 people sitting in a roadside clearing. When two journalists arrived, three gunmen quickly
disappeared.
As the meeting broke up, a woman in a purple sari approached Jayam with a plea: His group had snatched two of her sons, including a 15-year-old. Could she have
one back?
Jayam told her: "First vote, then I will sort it out."
Sri Lanka elections marred by irregularities
The government hailed the elections as a key step in restoring normalcy to the Eastern Province, which it freed from 13 years of Tamil Tiger rule last July.
But even before the attack, the opposition and independent observers raised questions about the polls, accusing the governing party of misconduct in its effort to
ensure a victory it sees as its rightful reward.
Opposition candidates said former rebels allied with the government threatened them to withdraw, promised retribution against their supporters and made it nearly
impossible to campaign.
"This election is a sham," said Rauff Hakeem, head of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, which has formed an election alliance with the opposition United National
Party.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has portrayed the election as a tacit referendum on his costly battle to crush the rebels in their remaining stronghold in the north and end
this Indian Ocean island nation's 25-year civil war.
The rebels have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for the ethnic Tamil minority in the north and east after decades of marginalization under
governments controlled by the Sinhalese majority. The military, with the help of a breakaway rebel faction known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, or TMVP,
seized control of the east last year.
In a reminder that the rebels could still carry out deadly attacks here, the military blamed the Tamil Tigers for a parcel bomb that exploded about 5:40 p.m in a small
restaurant in Ampara, one of the largest towns in the province.
"This is to sabotage the election tomorrow and to scare the people," said a military spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara.
Rasiah Ilanthirayan, a spokesman for the rebels, did not answer calls for comment.
The attack was carried out despite the presence of 28,000 police officers and an extra 4,000 soldiers sent to the province to secure the polls.
The governing party is running in a coalition with the former rebels of the TMVP, whom residents and human rights groups accuse of carrying out abductions and
killings, running extortion rings and forcibly recruiting children into their ranks.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, the government announced huge grants for the impoverished region and insisted an opposition victory would bring back rebel
rule.
"A vote for the government is a vote for peace and development. A vote for the opposition will be an endorsement of Prabhakaran," President Rajapaksa said of the
Tamil Tiger leader last week.
However, governing party officials were misusing government resources and the state media to bolster their chances, and tension in the province prevented many
candidates from campaigning, said Kingsley Rodrigo, head of the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, an independent election monitoring group.
"This is not a free and fair election," he said.
Arumugam Jagan, a 27-year-old Tamil construction contractor, said he decided to run for office after town council elections were held in March with little violence or
intimidation. But the main opposition parties boycotted those polls, leaving little competition for the government and the former rebels, who won in a rout.
After Jagan announced that he was running as an opposition candidate in these elections, TMVP leaders demanded that he drop out and threatened retribution against
him and his supporters, he said.
When he refused, his campaign posters were torn down or defaced.
He canceled all public rallies under threat, and some of his volunteers quit. Others were attacked as they campaigned, they said. Like many candidates, he was forced
to bring two police bodyguards with him on the campaign trail.
The head of the TMVP, known as Pillaiyan, denied threatening Jagan and accused him of trying to build an asylum claim to move abroad.
Pillaiyan said it was his party - not Jagan's - that had been victimized. He denied allegations his group was recruiting child soldiers and threatening voters. He said his
supporters remained armed - a key point of contention in the election - but only for self defense.
At a recent rally, a senior TMVP leader known as Jayam spoke to about 80 people sitting in a roadside clearing. When two journalists arrived, three gunmen quickly
disappeared.
As the meeting broke up, a woman in a purple sari approached Jayam with a plea: His group had snatched two of her sons, including a 15-year-old. Could she have
one back?
Jayam told her: "First vote, then I will sort it out."
Sri Lanka elections marred by irregularities
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press WriterSat May 10, 4:01 PM ET
Allegations of fraud, voter intimidation and sporadic violence marred elections in Sri Lanka's east Saturday despite the government's claims they would be a
celebration of democracy for the region recently liberated from the Tamil Tiger rebels.
The vote was intended to show that a "new dawn" was coming to the impoverished area, to give minority communities a degree of self-rule and to counter rebel
demands for an independent state.
Many voters said the new provincial government should focus on ending the chaos and violence in the east, which is divided among Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim
communities.
"We hope things will be straightened out," said a doctor voting in the town of Batticaloa, who, like nearly every other voter interviewed, declined to give his name out
of fear of reprisals.
The government, with the help of a breakaway group of former rebels known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, or TMVP, seized control of the province late
last year after 13 years of rebel rule. Civil war continues to rage around the separatists' de facto state in the north.
The ruling party ran in a coalition with the TMVP, which has been accused of threatening voters and opposition candidates, while the main opposition United National
Party joined with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
Independent monitors said the election went smoothly in some areas, but quickly unraveled in others.
Kingsley Rodrigo, head of the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, an independent monitoring group, said the TMVP was threatening and intimidating voters
across the province Saturday.
"There are many, many violations taking place," he said.
The former rebels have been accused by residents and international rights groups of waging a campaign of terror since the rebels were ousted, killing opponents,
extorting money from businessmen and forcibly conscripting new recruits — some of them children.
Other monitors reported gangs of people shuttling between polling stations to vote numerous times in the Valaichchenai region north of Batticaloa.
The perpetrators each held a series of false identity cards signed by local officials saying they lived in each polling district, said Sunanda Deshapriya, an official with
the independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence.
"At almost every station (in the area), stuffing is taking place," he said.
Opposition observers were also threatened and forced to leave many polling stations, he said. The monitors called for a revote in the affected areas.
"We can't in any way accept this as a free and fair election," said Tissa Attanayake, general secretary of the opposition UNP.
There were also several incidents of violence.
In Kathankudi, four people from a family of opposition supporters were badly burned when a bottle of acid was thrown into their house, said Jamaldeen Farida, one
of the injured.
A supporter of the ruling party coalition, S. Tarek, was attacked by opposition supporters outside a polling station in the town of Eravur, his brother-in-law Mustafa
Nazir said. Hospital workers said Tarek suffered a broken skull.
Even before the vote, Rodrigo said widespread intimidation and the ruling party's misuse of government resources made it impossible to hold a fair election.
Education Minister Susil Premjayantha, who has been campaigning in the province, said he had not heard about the violence or fraud, but he doubted the reports and
accused the monitors of bias.
"Compared to other elections in other parts of the country, I think this election is free and fair," he said.
Turnout was about 60 percent of the province's nearly 1 million registered voters, according to the elections commission. Rodrigo said the turnout was quite low for
such an important election.
The election was also held amid a series of attacks blamed on the Tamil Tigers which began Friday night with the bombing of a cafe in the town of Ampara that killed
11.
Early Saturday, rebels bombed and sank an empty navy cargo ship in the eastern port town of Trincomalee. The rebels later fired seven mortar rounds into the village
of Pannalgama, wounding four civilians, the military said.
"We need peace. We should be able to sleep without fear our children will be taken away," an unemployed 50-year-old woman who identified herself as Kannahi
said after voting in Valaichchenai.
Her husband disappeared at a police checkpoint 18 years ago and she had to pull her two sons out of high school and send them into hiding so they would not be
forcibly conscripted by the rebels, she said. She cannot afford a house or the dowry needed to marry off her daughter, she added.
Asked for her last name, Kannahi laughed nervously. "If I tell, I might disappear in the night. That's how things happen here," she said.
Allegations of fraud, voter intimidation and sporadic violence marred elections in Sri Lanka's east Saturday despite the government's claims they would be a
celebration of democracy for the region recently liberated from the Tamil Tiger rebels.
The vote was intended to show that a "new dawn" was coming to the impoverished area, to give minority communities a degree of self-rule and to counter rebel
demands for an independent state.
Many voters said the new provincial government should focus on ending the chaos and violence in the east, which is divided among Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim
communities.
"We hope things will be straightened out," said a doctor voting in the town of Batticaloa, who, like nearly every other voter interviewed, declined to give his name out
of fear of reprisals.
The government, with the help of a breakaway group of former rebels known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal, or TMVP, seized control of the province late
last year after 13 years of rebel rule. Civil war continues to rage around the separatists' de facto state in the north.
The ruling party ran in a coalition with the TMVP, which has been accused of threatening voters and opposition candidates, while the main opposition United National
Party joined with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
Independent monitors said the election went smoothly in some areas, but quickly unraveled in others.
Kingsley Rodrigo, head of the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, an independent monitoring group, said the TMVP was threatening and intimidating voters
across the province Saturday.
"There are many, many violations taking place," he said.
The former rebels have been accused by residents and international rights groups of waging a campaign of terror since the rebels were ousted, killing opponents,
extorting money from businessmen and forcibly conscripting new recruits — some of them children.
Other monitors reported gangs of people shuttling between polling stations to vote numerous times in the Valaichchenai region north of Batticaloa.
The perpetrators each held a series of false identity cards signed by local officials saying they lived in each polling district, said Sunanda Deshapriya, an official with
the independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence.
"At almost every station (in the area), stuffing is taking place," he said.
Opposition observers were also threatened and forced to leave many polling stations, he said. The monitors called for a revote in the affected areas.
"We can't in any way accept this as a free and fair election," said Tissa Attanayake, general secretary of the opposition UNP.
There were also several incidents of violence.
In Kathankudi, four people from a family of opposition supporters were badly burned when a bottle of acid was thrown into their house, said Jamaldeen Farida, one
of the injured.
A supporter of the ruling party coalition, S. Tarek, was attacked by opposition supporters outside a polling station in the town of Eravur, his brother-in-law Mustafa
Nazir said. Hospital workers said Tarek suffered a broken skull.
Even before the vote, Rodrigo said widespread intimidation and the ruling party's misuse of government resources made it impossible to hold a fair election.
Education Minister Susil Premjayantha, who has been campaigning in the province, said he had not heard about the violence or fraud, but he doubted the reports and
accused the monitors of bias.
"Compared to other elections in other parts of the country, I think this election is free and fair," he said.
Turnout was about 60 percent of the province's nearly 1 million registered voters, according to the elections commission. Rodrigo said the turnout was quite low for
such an important election.
The election was also held amid a series of attacks blamed on the Tamil Tigers which began Friday night with the bombing of a cafe in the town of Ampara that killed
11.
Early Saturday, rebels bombed and sank an empty navy cargo ship in the eastern port town of Trincomalee. The rebels later fired seven mortar rounds into the village
of Pannalgama, wounding four civilians, the military said.
"We need peace. We should be able to sleep without fear our children will be taken away," an unemployed 50-year-old woman who identified herself as Kannahi
said after voting in Valaichchenai.
Her husband disappeared at a police checkpoint 18 years ago and she had to pull her two sons out of high school and send them into hiding so they would not be
forcibly conscripted by the rebels, she said. She cannot afford a house or the dowry needed to marry off her daughter, she added.
Asked for her last name, Kannahi laughed nervously. "If I tell, I might disappear in the night. That's how things happen here," she said.
Fair turnout, but monitors cry foul
The Sunday Times lk
A turnout of 55 to 65 percent was reported in the crucial and keenly-fought Eastern Provincial Council elections yesterday – but the polls were marred, especially, by
alleged large-scale ballot rigging by the government ally, the Pillayan group in the final hours.
While independent monitors also reported large numbers of cases of assaults, threats, intimidation, impersonation and forcible removal of polling cards, a spokesman
for the Elections Commissioner’s office in Colombo said that the turnout in Ampara district was 65 percent, Trincomalee 60 percent and Batticaloa 55 percent.
Monitors and eyewitnesses reported serious incidents of violations of election laws from Sitthandy, Vakarai, Alaadivembu in the Batticaloa district and Pottuvil in the
Ampara district and Thiriyaya, Kallarawa and Kuchchaveli in the Trincomalee district.
The Elections Commissioner was last night looking into complaints of malpractices to ascertain whether they could influence the eventual results of the polls in the
Eastern Province.
Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka in a statement said complaints were received that polling was interrupted in some booths. He said there were also complaints
that polling agents had faced obstacles. Mr. Dissanayake said that before the counting took place, the reports of the Senior Presiding officers would be taken into
consideration.
In the Kathankudy area, a group of UPFA-TMVP supporters who attempted to impersonate were reportedly beaten up by the army. Both, the main opposition
UNP-SLMC alliance and the JVP expressed grave concern over the manner in which the polls were conducted, alleging mass-scale irregularities.
“This was not a free and fair and election. There was rigging in all three districts and especially the Tamil and Muslim areas were targeted preventing people from
voting for the UNP-SLMC alliance,” UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka told The Sunday Times.
He said in Thirukkovil in the Ampara district, the UNP polling agents were not allowed to carry out their duties and had been turned away by armed groups backed
by the army. He said that UNP-SLMC polling agents were not allowed to function in as many as 85 polling booths in the three districts.
JVP frontliner Vijitha Herath told The Sunday Times that the party believed the elections were not free and fair and there would have been a higher voter turnout if a
peaceful atmosphere was maintained.
But senior minister and Ampara district campaign leader Nimal Siripala de Silva denied the opposition allegations. He said the elections were held in a democratic
manner while he believed the Ampara café bomb blast which killed 12 people and the mortar attack on an Ampara village were beneficial to the UNP-SLMC
alliance.
In Ampara polling in the morning was low after Tiger guerrillas reportedly fired mortars close to a polling station in Pannalgama and the security forces retaliated. The
clashes apparently led to fears among the people and a low voter turnout but polling increased later in the day.
At Dehiattakandiya in the Ampara district, a group of UPFA supporters who allegedly snatched polling cards from villagers travelling in a tractor to vote were
arrested by the police and the STF. They were held by the Dehiattakandiya police, but polls monitor Centre for Monitoring Elections Violence (CMEV) alleged that
Deputy Minister Premalal Jayasekara had intervened and got them released.
The election was being monitored by more than 4000 local and international officials in the three districts, but in some areas the police had not permitted some of them
to enter polling booths. The CMEV last evening called on the Commissioner of Elections to cancel the voting in identified polling stations where large-scale
impersonation and ballot stuffing had taken place.
Another elections monitoring group CAFFE (the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections) said as many as 175 incidents of violations were reported yesterday alone
and thus the elections could not be considered as being free and fair.
CAFFE spokesman Keerthi Tennakoon said among the complaints were 26 cases in which polling agents had been chased out. More than 25 cases of assault and
35 cases of threats were also reported yesterday. However, polls monitor PAFFREL said the polls were genrally fair.
Its chairman Kingsley Rodrigo said that except for minor malpractices, the election could be considered as fair, but comparing with 2005 and 2004 elections the
turnout was low this time. He said the main reason for the drop was Friday's bomb blast and the LTTE attack on the navy vessel in Trincomalee yesterday morning.
Counting of votes was in progress last night under tight security and final results are expected before noon today, if no re-poll is ordered in any of the booths.
Mutur drama: Who’s playing victim?
Chaos and confusion reigned yesterday over who did what to whom in an incident involving a deputy minister and a police inspector in the eastern town of Mutur.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Mutur police station, A.A. Wahid, was undergoing treatment at the Mutur hospital after Deputy Minister K A. Baiz allegedly assaulted
him in public. But hours later, the police officer received orders that he had been transferred to headquarters in Colombo with immediate effect.
Residents said the incident took place when, on the instruction of the area SP, the inspector came to the town to disperse a crowd that had laid siege to a house
where Mr. Baiz and his supporters from Puttalam were staying.
A supporter of Mr. Baiz claimed that the officer was transferred because he tried to grab a gun from a homeguard and shoot the deputy minister.
alleged large-scale ballot rigging by the government ally, the Pillayan group in the final hours.
While independent monitors also reported large numbers of cases of assaults, threats, intimidation, impersonation and forcible removal of polling cards, a spokesman
for the Elections Commissioner’s office in Colombo said that the turnout in Ampara district was 65 percent, Trincomalee 60 percent and Batticaloa 55 percent.
Monitors and eyewitnesses reported serious incidents of violations of election laws from Sitthandy, Vakarai, Alaadivembu in the Batticaloa district and Pottuvil in the
Ampara district and Thiriyaya, Kallarawa and Kuchchaveli in the Trincomalee district.
The Elections Commissioner was last night looking into complaints of malpractices to ascertain whether they could influence the eventual results of the polls in the
Eastern Province.
Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayaka in a statement said complaints were received that polling was interrupted in some booths. He said there were also complaints
that polling agents had faced obstacles. Mr. Dissanayake said that before the counting took place, the reports of the Senior Presiding officers would be taken into
consideration.
In the Kathankudy area, a group of UPFA-TMVP supporters who attempted to impersonate were reportedly beaten up by the army. Both, the main opposition
UNP-SLMC alliance and the JVP expressed grave concern over the manner in which the polls were conducted, alleging mass-scale irregularities.
“This was not a free and fair and election. There was rigging in all three districts and especially the Tamil and Muslim areas were targeted preventing people from
voting for the UNP-SLMC alliance,” UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka told The Sunday Times.
He said in Thirukkovil in the Ampara district, the UNP polling agents were not allowed to carry out their duties and had been turned away by armed groups backed
by the army. He said that UNP-SLMC polling agents were not allowed to function in as many as 85 polling booths in the three districts.
JVP frontliner Vijitha Herath told The Sunday Times that the party believed the elections were not free and fair and there would have been a higher voter turnout if a
peaceful atmosphere was maintained.
But senior minister and Ampara district campaign leader Nimal Siripala de Silva denied the opposition allegations. He said the elections were held in a democratic
manner while he believed the Ampara café bomb blast which killed 12 people and the mortar attack on an Ampara village were beneficial to the UNP-SLMC
alliance.
In Ampara polling in the morning was low after Tiger guerrillas reportedly fired mortars close to a polling station in Pannalgama and the security forces retaliated. The
clashes apparently led to fears among the people and a low voter turnout but polling increased later in the day.
At Dehiattakandiya in the Ampara district, a group of UPFA supporters who allegedly snatched polling cards from villagers travelling in a tractor to vote were
arrested by the police and the STF. They were held by the Dehiattakandiya police, but polls monitor Centre for Monitoring Elections Violence (CMEV) alleged that
Deputy Minister Premalal Jayasekara had intervened and got them released.
The election was being monitored by more than 4000 local and international officials in the three districts, but in some areas the police had not permitted some of them
to enter polling booths. The CMEV last evening called on the Commissioner of Elections to cancel the voting in identified polling stations where large-scale
impersonation and ballot stuffing had taken place.
Another elections monitoring group CAFFE (the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections) said as many as 175 incidents of violations were reported yesterday alone
and thus the elections could not be considered as being free and fair.
CAFFE spokesman Keerthi Tennakoon said among the complaints were 26 cases in which polling agents had been chased out. More than 25 cases of assault and
35 cases of threats were also reported yesterday. However, polls monitor PAFFREL said the polls were genrally fair.
Its chairman Kingsley Rodrigo said that except for minor malpractices, the election could be considered as fair, but comparing with 2005 and 2004 elections the
turnout was low this time. He said the main reason for the drop was Friday's bomb blast and the LTTE attack on the navy vessel in Trincomalee yesterday morning.
Counting of votes was in progress last night under tight security and final results are expected before noon today, if no re-poll is ordered in any of the booths.
Mutur drama: Who’s playing victim?
Chaos and confusion reigned yesterday over who did what to whom in an incident involving a deputy minister and a police inspector in the eastern town of Mutur.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Mutur police station, A.A. Wahid, was undergoing treatment at the Mutur hospital after Deputy Minister K A. Baiz allegedly assaulted
him in public. But hours later, the police officer received orders that he had been transferred to headquarters in Colombo with immediate effect.
Residents said the incident took place when, on the instruction of the area SP, the inspector came to the town to disperse a crowd that had laid siege to a house
where Mr. Baiz and his supporters from Puttalam were staying.
A supporter of Mr. Baiz claimed that the officer was transferred because he tried to grab a gun from a homeguard and shoot the deputy minister.
60 p.c. turnout in eastern poll
B. Muralidhar Reddy -The Hindu
Sri Lankan Naval vessel sunk in Trincomalee harbo KEY ELECTION: A woman casts her ballot ata booth in Trincomalee on Saturday.
TRINCOMALEE: About 60 per cent of the nearly 10 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first-ever election to the Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council
(EPC) on Saturday.
The much awaited election passed off without any major incidence of violence amid unprecedented security measures and charges of large-scale irregularities.
This correspondent who drove down from Batticaloa to Trincomalee saw little enthusiasm among voters. At most booths, security forces outnumbered voters. All the
mainstream opposition parties in the island nation have accused the ruling party of resorting to large scale malpractices in the election in which President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has staked everything.
Voting was held in 1,070 polling centres spanning three districts, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. A record number of 1,342 candidates from 18 political parties
and 73 independent groups are in the fray. Counting of votes is expected to start later in the night and the first results could be out by dawn.
A record number of 32,000 security forces and police personnel were deployed to guard 1,022 polling booths. An NGO, PAFFREL and Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CPA) put on the ground 2,500 observers, including over 20 international monitors. “Large-scale impersonations”
A bulletin issued by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), a unit of the CPA, said on the basis of reports from the ground that the election was
marked by “large scale impersonations, intimidation and widespread violence”.
“The context of violence in which this election is taking place has also been reinforced by the sinking of a Sri Lanka Navy logistics vessel inside the Ashraff jetty in the
Trincomalee Harbour this morning. This has been attributed to the LTTE”, the CMEV said.
B. Muralidhar Reddy -The Hindu
Sri Lankan Naval vessel sunk in Trincomalee harbo KEY ELECTION: A woman casts her ballot ata booth in Trincomalee on Saturday.
TRINCOMALEE: About 60 per cent of the nearly 10 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first-ever election to the Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council
(EPC) on Saturday.
The much awaited election passed off without any major incidence of violence amid unprecedented security measures and charges of large-scale irregularities.
This correspondent who drove down from Batticaloa to Trincomalee saw little enthusiasm among voters. At most booths, security forces outnumbered voters. All the
mainstream opposition parties in the island nation have accused the ruling party of resorting to large scale malpractices in the election in which President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has staked everything.
Voting was held in 1,070 polling centres spanning three districts, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. A record number of 1,342 candidates from 18 political parties
and 73 independent groups are in the fray. Counting of votes is expected to start later in the night and the first results could be out by dawn.
A record number of 32,000 security forces and police personnel were deployed to guard 1,022 polling booths. An NGO, PAFFREL and Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CPA) put on the ground 2,500 observers, including over 20 international monitors. “Large-scale impersonations”
A bulletin issued by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), a unit of the CPA, said on the basis of reports from the ground that the election was
marked by “large scale impersonations, intimidation and widespread violence”.
“The context of violence in which this election is taking place has also been reinforced by the sinking of a Sri Lanka Navy logistics vessel inside the Ashraff jetty in the
Trincomalee Harbour this morning. This has been attributed to the LTTE”, the CMEV said.
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