Batti candidate abducted; elections monitor calls for arms-free polls

A UPFA-TMVP candidate for the Batticaloa Municipal Council elections was abducted by unidentified persons, hours after the nominations for local councils closed on Friday, police said. They said TMVP member Sangaradass Sivanandadass, a former EROS cadre, was abducted from his residence at Kallady hours before a meeting between political party representatives and Batticaloa’s Senior Police Superintendent H.M.D. Herath to discuss security measures.

At the meeting, it was decided to provide two police guards for a candidate contesting the March 10 polls if a request was made. Meanwhile, the People’s Action Front for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has called on the Election Commissioner to take measures to ensure that all political parties contesting the local council polls are disarmed.

PAFFREL Chief Kingsley Rodrigo said political parties with weapons would not ensure a violent-free election campaign. He said PAFFREL had invited 20 international observers from Germany, Canada, USA, Japan, Kenya and other countries to monitor the eastern polls.

Mr. Rodrigo said his group had received 15 complaints so far but none of them could be considered serious as they were mainly about internal problems of parties. Some complaints were about people being asked to contest the polls against their wishes but even these complaints were not against any particular party.

“Some have made complaints without naming any names, probably due to fear of reprisals,” he said.Many militant groups now calling themselves mainstream political parties are among those vying for office in the nine local councils in Batticaloa where elections will be held on March 10. The police warned that no individual or group would be allowed to carry weapons during the election campaign which kicked off soon after nominations closed on Friday.

The main tussle is expected to be between the breakaway LTTE faction known as the Karuna group which is contesting under its political wing the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) and an independent alliance comprising Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP), Peoples Liberation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) – all these groups are known to be maintaining their armed cadres.

However the TMVP has fielded its candidates for the Batticaloa Municipal Council under the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) banner while the UPFA is contesting on its own in five other councils. UPFA General Secretary Susil Premajayantha was in Batticaloa this week to hold discussions with the TMVP and finalise their joint nomination list. No formal agreement had been signed between the TMVP and the UPFA other than for a verbal agreement between the two parties, UPFA sources said.

Edwin Silva Krishnaraja has been named as UPFA’s Mayoral candidate for the Batticaloa Municipal Council. He is the TMVP political leader for Batticaloa town while the Independent alliance comprising the EPDP, PLOTE and EPRLF have put forward the name of EPDP activist Kandiah Arumelingam, a former provincial councillor of the now defunct North and East.

The police while stepping up security for the candidates have issued strict instructions banning any individual or group from carrying weapons. A total of 837 candidates are vying for 101 slots for the nine local councils with the Batticaloa Municipal Council which was earlier controlled by the TELO, being the most important.