PA stand on Local polls
Poor turnout: cause for defeat
"People were not allowed to vote," PA spokesman Sarath Amunugama said analysing
the local government election results and the poor voter turnout.
He claimed there was stuffing of votes.
"There was no free vote. Intimidation was taking place at village level,"
Dr. Amunugama said.
He claimed intimidation took place not in an open way as was during
the general elections.
He said people were afraid to vote after the spate of violence following
the general elections.
Dr. Amunugama said the poll result was not a proper index. "If there
was a proper voter turnout the PA and the JVP should have got much more
votes.
JVP pats its own back
The JVP feels it has performed well in the local poll, parliamentarian
Vijitha Herath said.
He said in the 1997 local government elections the JVP was able to get
101 members elected and this time they had increased the number to 189.
However, the drop in the percentage of votes they had received in comparison
to the general elections in 2001 was due to poor voter turnout, Mr. Herath
said adding that fear kept the voters away from polling booths.
Hats off to farmers
H.C. Jayasiri, JVP's Tissamaharamaya leader who led the party to a historic
win at the Pradeshiya Sabha elections says the backing of the farmers helped
it to clinch the victory.
"We also had the backing of the villagers to prevent malpractices and
rigging at the elections. We drove away the people who came to carry the
ballot boxes away and those who tried to impersonate," Mr. Jayasiri said.
The JVP which managed to return two members to this council at the 1997
local government elections clinched the council at Wednesday's election,
inflicting a major blow to both the UNP and PA.
The JVP obtained 41 per cent of the votes to win six seats in the council
while the UNPgot four and the PA two.
The JVP in a statement issued from Colombo said it was a significant
achievement to win the Tissamaharamaya Pradeshiya Sabha in their short
journey since 1994.
Candidate for BASL post
Kalinga Indatissa has declared his candidature for the post of Secretary
of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka scheduled for next year.
Enrolled in 1986, Mr. Indatissa has since been attached to the Law College
as a tutor, lecturer and examiner. In 1987 he joined the Attorney General's
Department where he served until 1991. Thereafter he commenced practicing
in the unofficial bar.
In 1994 he was awarded a scholarship by the British Government to follow
a Commonwealth Legal Education programme in the United Kingdom. Presently
reading for his Ph.D. in Information Technology Law in England, Mr. Indatissa
expressed concern over some serious issues faced by the Bar today which
has encouraged him to contest for the Secretary's post. He had also functioned
as the Chairman of the Junior Bar Committee of the BASL and as a member
of the Executive Committee.
In addition, he has conducted many legal education programmes for young
lawyers and also have written a number of books on law.
Mr. Indatissa also appeared at the Arbitration in Monaco where Susanthika
Jayasinghe was acquitted of drug charges by the IAAF panel of Arbitrators.
He had also served as a member of the Central Environment Authority and
a trustee of the Mahapola Trust Fund for several years.
Minister orders probe on polls violence
Interior Minister John Amaratunga has ordered the police to conduct impartial
inquiries and take legal action against perpetrators of election violence.
The Minister said in a statement that although the low level of violence
was an encouraging sign towards creating a new political culture, he wanted
inquiries conducted into all acts of violence that took place during the
election.
"We are happy that the first major election held under the UNF government
has been conducted in a peaceful atmosphere where the number of complaints
recorded have been comparatively minimal," he said. |
