ELECTION NEWS

• Why vote for us ?
• Central Province: another case of politicians' poll
• Uva: polls fever yet to hit the ailing province

Why vote for us ?

• Don't forget we gave the right to life - PA
• UNP for a better economy- Navin - UNP
• We will safeguard national assets and democracy - JVP
• Bad housekeeping by Parliament says Sam - Liberal Party

PA

Don't forget we gave the right to life

"We brought back the right to life and the right to exist and anyone who remembers the abductions and killing of the past regime will vote for the PA.

"During the 17 years of the UNP Government, the working class and trade unions underwent many ordeals. I had first hand experience, as I was a trade unionist. We had no right to picket or strike and our demands were not heeded. In July 1980, 100,000 workers were sent out of work. They were only asking for a wage increase of Rs. 10 a day. Today, the UNP is offering a large increase in salary. Many of the 1980 strikers committed suicide. Trade Union leaders, including myself, were remanded when we put forward demands. We were attacked by the underworld and I was even hospitalised. Now the UNP is talking of freedom. This is why people should vote for the PA". "The economic problems we have to face is the result of the war, which we inherited from the UNP Government. It was not our creation. From the Black July of 1983 our image was tarred. President Kum-aratunga had to build up the image and instead of sending war materials to the North, we sent raw materials". "If we are elected to office our main aim would the devolution of power without breaking up the country. We are facing a crisis, which has to be resolved through dialogue.

Alavi Maulana is a PA National list candidate

UNP

UNP for a better economy- Navin

"I believe the country needs a change of management and economy, which we can provide.

" Looking at the state of the economy it is obvious that we managed it much better. The growth rate now is 4% to 5% whereas during the UNP it was 6% to 7% inspite of the war. I think we can better that to about 8%. We will also create an atmosphere conducive for foreign investment.

"We never neglected the agriculture sector. Now the farmers cannot even sell their products. If we come in we will give subsidies to the farmers and provide a stable price for their produce. Since 1994, the PA Government has flooded the market with potatoes imported from India. This has hit the farmers badly especially those in Nuwara Eliya. "As a Parliamentarian elected from the Nuwara Eliya District, I will specifically raise issues concerning the people of Nuwara Eliya including the problems of farmers, landlessness of the people and standard of living of the estate workers. "I also believe we have a fresh approach to end the war and the ethnic question. One of the issues we will look into is that of corruption that stems from the war. At present the Government is spending Rs.50 Billion a year on the war and it is essential to ask, what is happening to all this money."

Navin Dissanayake is a UNP candidate from Nuwara-Eliya.

JVP

We will safeguard national assets and democracy

"For 52 years, two governments came into power and they both destroyed the economy of the country with national resources being sold to foreigners.

"A war also continues in the North and East.

"It is obvious that these two parties cannot develop the country but we have a five year plan and the commitment to do so.

"We expect a large number of our candidates to be elected as Members of Parliament. If we are in the opposition, we will not help any party to form the Government but will sit in the opposition and use our vote to defeat any bill or constitutional reforms that would divide the country".

"We will oppose the sale of our remaining unsold assets such as banks, industries, tanks and jungles. We understand there are proposals to sell our jungles in the near future.

"Democracy is in itself under siege today.

Even the Election Commissioner is at risk. We will do our best to safeguard democracy in the country".

"In our five year programme of work, we have plans to develop industries, agriculture and other services in the country. Employment is an important part of our programme. We have a plan to set up 50 industrial parks throughout the country.

We expect to create 450,000 job opportunities from these industrial parks.

In the field of education, we plan to do away with the inequalities of educational opportunities between the urban and rural areas. Six new universities, with a capacity for 60,000 students, will be established to give an opportunity to all those who pass in their Advanced Level examination to enter university if they wish to."

Tilvin Silva is the Secretary General of the JVP

Liberal Party

Bad housekeeping by Parliament says Sam

"The Liberal party has no regrettable past and has a great future. "Most of the existing parties are embroiled in various problems which appear to be insurmountable. What we need is a new approach and I believe the Liberal party could provide this. We believe in treading a middle path where another man's views are accommodated. "The problems in our country did not crop up today or yesterday. There were pinpricks on both sides. The pinpricks ultimately lead to gunshots. We have to approach these problems reasonably and our party is made up of people who are mature enough to think and act reasonably. "We cannot form a government but if we are elected to Parliament, we can influence them effectively. "We will specifically look at the education sector where much can be improved. The lack of proper parliamentary control of finances is also something we will bring up. At the end of the last session in Parliament, over Rs. 4000 million had been requested in supplementary estimates which shows bad housekeeping. There are many more funds, which Parliament has no control over. "The proposed Constitution has some good, some bad provisions and some impossible provisions. It should be discussed calmly."

Sam Wijesinha, a former Secretary General of Parliament is a Liberal party candidate.

Central Province: another case of politicians' poll

By Faraza Farook and Nilika de Silva

In a province where agriculture and dairy farming are the main income generators, there is a feeling among the people that the election would not bring much change to their lives.

Battling geographic, climatic and economic hardships the people of the Central Province have fallen way back in the development process, and have lost faith in governments and their impact on their lives.

Within the Central Province, the Nuwara Eliya district appeared just like its climate, serene and calm. Nuwara Eliya Chief Inspector I.P.H. Gunawardena says no incidents have been reported yet since nominations day — a claim backed by the People's Alliance for Free and Fair Elections.

However, the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence reported that of the 35 incidents reported from the Central Province, five were from the Nuwara Eliya district.

The campaigning is taking place in a subdued way, with a minimum of fanfare.

Unlike in Colombo and suburbs, the posters were seen only at particular places.

Perhaps the lack of wall space was the reason. Posters pasted on islands and bridges were walked upon by the people with scarcely a second glance, as though life and elections appeared to exist parallelly, but not with much correlation.

The candidates preferred to go to the people through pocket meetings. Most candidates start their day very early, holding at least ten pocket meetings in their localities.

Although a majority of the people show little interest in the election, the competition appears to be tough among politicians throughout the province. The battle is not only between the PA and the UNP, it is also between the CWC and the JVP — to emerge as a third force.

For the 12 seats in the Kandy district, four ministers and an array of ex-MPs are in the fray. At the last General Election, the UNP won seven seats and the PA five.

Ministers D. M. Jayaratne, Anuruddha Ratwatte, Lakshman Kiriella and Sarath Amunugama and MPs Wilson Kuruppuarachchi and Provincial Ministers Mahindananda Aluthgamage are the PA big guns.

Their fight appear to be both among themselves and with the UNP — a sad feature of the proportional representation system.

The situation is the same in the UNP camp with former MPs Tissa Attanayake, Abdul Cader, Gamini Rajapakse, Lucky Jayawardena and Sriani Daniel, Provincial members Keheliya Rambukwelle and Kesara Senanayake among the contenders.

The JVP , it appears, has not made an impact in the Kandy district, probably because its violent politics of the 1988-89 era is still in the memory span of the people.

NUA general secretary Rauf Hakeem, who entered national politics on PA national list, is contesting the district, but whether he or his party would succeed is not clear.

Blue posters dominated the Central Province, with even the face of the clock tower at Gampola covered with a big cutout of PA General Secretary D.M. Jayaratne.

In the Matale district, for five seats a major tussle is on with the main parties fielding several big names.

The JVP list, headed by a teacher, Sujatha Alahakoon, is dominated by graduates.

In the Nuwara Eliya district, where 23 parties vie for seven seats, only a handful of candidates were actively campaigning. Of these the organisers of the two main parties, Gunasinghe Suriyapperuma of the PA and Navin Dissanayake of the UNP were the most prominent.

The silent presence of the Ceylon Worker's Congress (CWC) which has a stronghold on the estate is felt strongly in the heart of the hill country.

The CWC is facing its first General Election without its founder Saumyamoorthy Thondaman, and already a section of the party has broken away to join the UNP. But the voters still identify themselves with the CWC, and seem to know little of the policies of the breakway group.

However, the CWC breakaway group lead by Sachidanandan is confident of winning 70 percent of the estate votes at the October 10 polls. M. Sachidanandan, a founder CWC member, said, "the people are aware of the work we have rendered to the plantations sector. They have confidence in us". The breakaway group is hoping to win at least two seats.

There seemed to be a close race between the PA and the UNP in the rest of the district, in the plantation areas, it is still the CWC which dominates politics.

The entry of several popular candidates and intra-party competition has given added impetus to the campaign.

Minister S. B. Dissanayake leads the PA side which includes Ministers Arumugam Thondaman of the CWC, Muthu Sivalingam, C. B. Ratnayake and Gunasinghe Suriyapperuma.

Five experienced candidates were shoulder to shoulder in the UNP side — former Health Minister Renuka Herath, ex-MPs P. Chandrasekeran, Rohan Abeygunasekera, V. Puthrasigamani and Navin Dissanayake.

Former Mayor Nalin Tilaka Herath was contesting from Sirisena Cooray's Puravesi Peramuna.

As the political battle hots up, the people appear to be indifferent with the main problem being their inability to find an answer to the question whether these politicians are fighting each other to serve the people or serve their self-interest.

A majority of the people in the province face the problem of bad housing conditions. Having lived in congested houses with poor hygienic conditions for more than quarter of a century, their cry is for a better living environment.

A few line dwellers have been given land to put up a house, and in some places electricity and water were provided. Yet a majority of them are still lacking basic amenities.

In some areas of the province, there is only restricted water supply. From 12 noon to 1 o'clock and 5 to 7 in the evening there would be a queue at the public tap where families from 36 houses gathered.

"At elections time politicians seek our votes, promising us that they will solve our grievances. But after the elections, we are forgotten," said H. W. Gunapala, a Nuwara Eliya resident.

Politicians claim that they have done much for the people of the hill country by way of agricultural support and water supply, and improved living standards in the Line Homes on the estates.

But a visit to the line homes proved that little had been done to improve their living standards. Families were cooped up in small houses in need of a lot of repairs.

The line dwellers say that in spite of having lived and worked for the estates from even before independence, their quality of life has remained the same.

Now their children are rebelling that they don't want to get into the same job, but the prospects are minimal.

Fifty-two-year-old, Muthumani Rasaiah born on the estate where her parents were labourers, joined the work force at the age of 13. To date she says, no government has brought relief to the plantation workers.

Taking us to the backyard of her two-room house, Muttumani showed us the blocked drains into which the soiled water of 15 houses flowed. "The stench is unbearable and when it rains the water flows towards the house," she said.

Another problem is the lack of transport. People have to trek miles to come to a bus-plying road.

PA's chief candidate Suriyapperuma, however, claims, the living standards of the people have improved with Samurdhi payments being increased.

The increases in the Samurdhi cards meant that those who had been receiving Rs. 100 were given Rs. 250, those receiving Rs. 250 was increased to Rs. 500 and Rs. 500 to Rs. 750.

The recent salary hike to both the public and private sector leaving out the plantation community has sparked off a controversy in the hills. The plantation workers launched an indefinite strike last Monday demanding the Rs. 400 hike.

"Unless we strike, we are not going to win our demands. We have to forego ten days' wages striking if we are to get a Rs. 10 increase," one worker said.

Uva: polls fever yet to hit the ailing province

The calm tranquillity of the Uva Province, like much of the Central Province, is also reflected in the political landscape with hardly any violence being reported in the run-up to the October 10 election.

The lack of political enthusiasm in the people here too suggests that the province's two districts, Badulla and Moneragala, are preparing for a low key election.

According to PAFFREL, only three election-related incidents have been reported from Uva — one from the Moneragala district and two from the Badulla district.

However, the CMEV claims it has received 32 complaints, sixteen each from the Badulla and Moneragala electorates.

Hundred and eighty seven candidates are vying for the eight seats at stake in the Badulla district and in Moneragala 144 candidates were competing for the five seats.

Acting District Secretary and Badulla's Returning officer Newton Perera says candidates will be briefed on the need for peace and fair election at a meeting to be held this week.

The Uva province well known for its agricultural produce, and dairy products, in addition to tea, remains poor in infrastructure development.

Apart from poverty, the other main problem the people face here is the lack of transport and proper roads. Schoolchildren in interior areas are the worst affected. They walk a minimum of two miles to school.

"People take these short cuts to reach their destinations while the main roads are often used by those with vehicles," a postman from Hegoda, A.W. Faleeldeen said.

Although 39.8 percent of the total investment towards development work in the Badulla District in 1998 had been allocated for Road Development, much improvement was not seen.

Confirming the poor condition of the roads PA Chief Candidate in the Badulla district, Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said, " this is one area that complaints are abundant. If you go to the interior places some people travel five six miles carrying their heavy loads".

Paradoxically, last month Badulla district received a brand new central bus complex, built in a hasty six months, and saw many other development plans on the cards.

Despite the poor development in Badulla, it was far better when compared with Moneragala. The slow development in Moneragala affected the living standards of the people in the district.

Unemployment was another issue especially among the youth seeking white collar jobs. Badulla district rated unemployment at 10.3 percent, with 76.5 percent of people being employed in the agricultural sector.

The competition at the forthcoming elections showed signs of stronger competition within the parties, with candidates struggling for preference votes.

In many instances the same candidate had plastered the walls with posters trying to ensure a fool proof seat in parliament.

Though contesting in the Badulla district, posters of Minister Hema Ratnayake spilled over into the adjoining provinces, while Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's posters plastered the Badulla hospital boundaries giving it an appearance of a party office, and heralded the way to his party office which was located further down the road.

In the case of Ministers Dilan Perera and W.J.M. Lokubandara it appeared that they had manage to contain themselves within their province.

The available spaces for posters were limited forcing ardent party supporters to use rock quarries, boulders, trees, bridges and even public baths to display their posters.

A tight competition was evident between three Ministers and many MPs for the limited seats in parliament.

Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Hema Ratnayake, Dilan Perera and government MPs A.M. Buddadasa and Lokubanda Jayasundera from the PA were racing against UNP MPs W.J.M. Lok-ubandara , Ravindra Sam-araweera, Lakshman Sen-eviratne, R.M. Ratnayake and Don Vincent Dias in the Badulla district.

Leader of the Breakaway group, former CWC MP, Murugan Sachchidanandan was also fully in the fray competing for the plantation votes, as nearly a quarter of the population of the Badulla district is from the estate sector. Others in the breakaway group included M. Suppiah and G. Senathirajah.

Bringing in another facet to the polls, was JVP chief candidate Rohitha Thillekeratne. It was clear that the JVP was trying to make its presence felt with meetings scheduled in congested areas. Moneragala district was represented by A. Gihan Kap-ilasiri and Wijemuni Soyza from the PA and Irwin Jayasuriya, Dharmadasa Ban-da and Ranjith Madduma Bandara from the UNP. K.M. Shantha Bandara leads the JVP.

The CWC which is contesting in the Badulla district has failed to hand in nominations for the Moneragala district.

In a province where vegetables is the main crop people lamented at the increasing cost of vegetables.

Thirty nine year-old Vijitha Dharmakeerthi of Puwa-kgadamulla said that they were waiting for the candidates to come canvassing in order to express the hardships in making ends meet.

More News/Comment

Return to News/Comment Contents