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Uva goes to vote – Precursor to bigger elections to come
Food, household goods and cash are being scattered around the Uva Province as campaigning for the provincial election draws to a close, while 
the army is engaging in heroic parades in the area with, election monitors alleged, the aim of boosting the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance.
The final rallies of all the main parties have been fixed for Wednesday – the last day of the official campaign.
Free for all: Food and other goods for votes. Pix by our Moneragala correspondent
There are varying claims of the level of election irregularities and violence. Independent election monitoring bodies said they had received more than 300 complaints. The Election Secretariat said there had been 212 complaints, 134 of them from Moneragala, while police said they had received 54 election-related complaints and made 30 arrests since the day of nominations.
Moneragala District Secretary A. Patthinathan said he had requested police to set up permanent checkpoints in the district.
“Buttala junction, Thanamalwila junction and Hulandawa junction are the main entrance to the city. If they deployed police patrols day and night we can identify suspicious vehicles and unregistered vehicles,” he said.
Police rejected Opposition allegations that they had been inactive in controlling violence, particularly in Moneragala.
Even this humble mud hut has not been spared of election propaganda.
Police spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said 11,000 additional police would be brought in from other provinces such as Sabragamuwa and the Eastern Province and deployed on election duty in Uva from this coming Thursday to September 24.
SSP Rohana said the Elections Commissioner had instructed the Inspector-General of Police not to grant bail to offenders. “We will produce them in court and the court will decide whether to grant bail,” he said.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said that despite an assurance from the Inspector-General of Police that the situation would be under control, two JVP offices had been destroyed within 24 hours.
“This is a clear indication that the police either don’t have the powers to control violence or the willingness to address this problem,” the CMEV said.
The scene on Thursday night when Harin Fernando’s campaign office was attacked
The independent body also raised concerns over preparations by the military to conduct a military parade in Badulla, saying this was a bid to gain political advantage for the UPFA. A similar parade was held in Monaragala last week.
Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya disputed this, saying the military parades had nothing to do with war victory celebrations or gaining political advantages.
“We have been conducting these kinds of military tattoos in every part of the country on an annual basis,” he said. “We had this type of tattoos in Anuradhapura, Jaffna, and Polonnaruwa.”
People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi
Quench one’s thirst with a bottled water plastered with a candidate’s name
alleged that the Economic Development Ministry headed by Mr. Basil Rajapaksa was trying to distribute Rs. 2,500 in drought relief to each and every household in the Moneragala district.
“If it is drought relief it has to be given through the Disaster Management Ministry. How did the Economic Development Ministry allocate such an amount, particularly for the Monaragala district?” he asked.
He said more than seven other districts had been severely affected by the drought but had failed to receive these grants.
Mano Ganeshan, leader of the Democratic People’s Front alleged that even after the Human Rights Commission has warned the government not to engage the state workers in to propaganda work there were many instances where state employees had been brought from other districts.
“Around 100 Samurdhi officers were brought from Jaffna last week to do campaign work in the province. They were given accommodation with a special payment as well,” he said.
With violence and blatant violations of election laws raging in the last days of the campaign for the Uva provincial council elections, our photojournalist captured this SUV at Thanamalwila in the Moneragala District. Independent polls monitors have charged that scores of state vehicles are being abused for propaganda work of the ruling UPFA. While the area's DIG says his officers searched all over and found no such vehicles, the Commissioner of Elections and the Human Rights Commission say they have detected such vehicles, adding confusion and mystery to a crisis where most observers say a free and fair poll is questionable.
| How the parties rate their chances | |
 UPFA: ‘I need one more chance’ -United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) chief minister candidate Sasheendra Rajapaksa said he was satisfied with his achievements since being elected as the chief minister in 2009 but he had not finished yet. "Within five years how can I fulfill all the people’s expectations?” he asked. “That’s why I need one more chance, and they are definitely going to give it to me.” Mr Rajapaksa said the Cabinet had last week approved two mega projects for drinking water in Uva province and that in three years drinking water supply would not be an issue for the province. Mr. Rajapaksa completely denied allegations that his supporters engaged in violence, saying, “The most cruel attacks are carried out by the UNP itself among their candidates, not by the UPFA”. He said his priorities in Uva were education and infrastructure. - Sasheendra Rajapaksa |
 DP: ‘The outcome in Uva will influence future elections’ - “In the Western Provincial council elections the government lost 12 seats and out of that we secured nine. We expect to do the same here,” said Democratic Party leader Sarath Fonseka. “The outcome at the Uva elections will have an influence over the future elections in the country. There is lot of corruption in the country. People are living with much hardship,” he said. “In Badulla district they have already given up – their defeat is confirmed. We must not give up in Moneragala (despite election violence),” Mr. Fonseka said. He alleged that the violence in the Moneragala district was due to the fact that the President’s nephew was contesting as chief candidate. “He has become very unpopular. They have to terrorise people or bribe them in order to win. That’s why the reason for the current situation in Uva. The Hambantota district has now become like a battlefield because of ruling party thuggery. They are making Moneragala like that,” he said. - Sarath Fonseka |
 UNP: ‘This is a wake-up call’ - UNP Chief ministerial candidate Harin Fernando asserted he is hoping to secure 11 seats in the Badulla district and six in the Moneragala district. “This is a wake-up call for the people of Uva,” Mr Fernando said. “They desperately need a change in order to improve their livelihoods. Seventy percentage of them are farmers and right now they are affected by drought and the government has done nothing significant for them to lead a normal life,” he said. He condemned intimidation by the ruling party. “Lots of ruling party politicians are using force to win this election at any cost. Their supporters are roaming on the streets in unregistered Defender vehicles in Moneragala and have engaged in violence,” he said. Responding to allegations made by the ruling party chief candidate that UNP candidates were using Defenders for their campaign work, Mr. Fernando claimed he had only two Defenders and had made sure both were registered. - Harin fernando |
 JVP: ‘We will increase our voter base’ - Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Propaganda Secretary and MP Vijtha Herath said in his election day message he would request the people to come to the polling booths without any fear to cast their votes for a change. “As our campaign slogan reflects “People’s power”, the people will give a good message in Uva. Our expectation is to increase our voter base in the province like we did in the Western and Southern Provincial Council elections,” he said. On election violence, he said: “On Thursday, two of our party offices were attacked by unidentified persons who came in a Defenders and assaulted our supporters. There was a nearby police barrack with three policemen but they could not stop the violence,” he said. The JVP was the only party that was effectively carrying out the role of the Opposition in Uva, he said, but added a request: people should vote for other opposition parties if they did not care to vote fort he JVP as “that would be the only way to send this corrupt government home”. - Vijitha Herath |