Special election report
With the July 2002 elections just around the corner, the StageLight&Magic Inc. elections office nominated a group of independent reporters (who will not be named for security reasons) to speak to the supporters who have taken to the streets shouting their respective campaign slogans, "A vote for Snowball means food for the future!" and "Vote for Napoleon and eat it now!" In this special feature, The Sunday Times (official newspaper for the elections) lets the supporters have their say. (For election updates tune into YES FM electronic media sponsor for the elections.)

The Human Party's strongest support comes from Molly. When she was not completely absorbed with tossing her mane, Molly, the white mare (who considers herself the "beauty on the block") told The Sunday Times that, for her, the two most important things in life are...sugar lumps and ribbons. "I don't see what this whole election fuss is all about," she scoffs, "The Human Party is not as bad as the Animal Party makes it out to be. It is so typical of the opposition to do something like that. Be obedient to man and you will get what you want."

Molly supports Jones
Molly's spokesperson Aida Mansoor explained to us that Molly is rather materialistic and needs her creature comforts. In her official statement issued to the press she says: "Molly has weighed the opposing manifestos and has decided to support the candidate who has more to offer her. And that is Farmer Jones of the Human Party."

Clover, an older mare, whispered, "Oh, my goodness! I can't take a stand like that! I'm too scared of the repercussions. You never know these days. What if they kill me!" and before we could question her any further, she galloped away. With election violence on the rise, we let Clover leave instead of pressing her to stay and answer our questions. Luckily, we had the good fortune of being able to interview her Public Relations Officer Ms. Marissa Jansz who, (thankfully) does not suffer from the same reserved nature that her client does and was more than willing to talk to us. When she finally got to the matter at hand she informed us that given the fact that Clover is an older animal on the farm, it is quite understandable that she may not want to commit to doing an interview of this nature.

Clover the idealist
Ms. Jansz took this opportunity to say: "Clover is very much the idealist who hopes that the SLM elections will bring about a bright and happy future for all animals. She firmly believes in 'The Cause' the Animal Party is fighting for, the candidate of her choice being Snowball. Her main concern is to see the end of the dictatorial rule of the Human Party."

Arjuna Koralagama who handles the publicity for Lincoln, the sheep, points out that his client is a 'sheep' of few words, therefore all he had to say on the subject of who he supported was simply: "I support Snowball!" Discussing the subject further with Mr. Koralagama we found out that Lincoln's rather simple but staunch support for Snowball, despite his initial dissension to Snowball's ideas, was because Snowball's manifesto promised a three-day working week. This reflected the general attitude of laziness displayed by the sheep at all times.

Speaking for Lucian (also a sheep), Dhanushka Innasithamby said that his client wasn't too concerned with who came into power as long as he didn't have to work too hard. Lucian's pal Abraham looked at us rather sheepishly as he had no opinion either. "In the absence of a sheepdog he is rather confused. All he wants is to stay out of trouble," says Anush de Costa, official representative for Abraham.

Muriel voting first time
Muriel, the mischievous but lovable goat is full of excitement at the prospect of being able to vote for the first time at the upcoming SLM elections. Her favourite candidate is Snowball and it is quite obvious that she hero-worships him. Muriel's lawyer Ms. Janice Hakel Ranasinghe points out, "My client is a believer and at this point she pins all her hopes on Snowball as he promises to lead all the animals to a better world. But it is more 'The Cause' she is for, rather than an individual candidate. She is dedicated to whoever is dedicated to The Cause."

"Comrade Nap-oh-oh-leon, Comrade Nap-oh-oh-leon," croons Animal Farms bard, Minimus the pig. An obvious Napoleon supporter he had little else to say and spent most of the interview singing catches of his originals written for the elections (all glorifying Napoleon of course). "Minimus knows how to play his cards right and he supports Napoleon because he possesses the same quality," says Timmy Seneviratne, his agent. "Minimus knows that if he supports Napoleon now, he will be rewarded when he gets into power. Furthermore, he is actively winning over supporters so that the 'Napoleon band wagon' grows as the elections draw closer."

Minimus is assisted by the popular rock band Krebs Cycle. In fact, on the whole, the Animal Party is very much into new propaganda methods and has found music an effective medium of spreading their respective campaign messages. The Kreators, tabla artiste Ranjana Amaradeva and pianist Neomal de Alwis have also joined the Animal Party's music propaganda team and are very keen to keep the voters happy on polling day.

Kate, the cat had just one thing to say: "No comment!" Her manager Nadishka Weerasuriya told us that it would be better to stay away from Kate as she is known to be rather aggressive. "She's a loner and will, in all probability, play it safe for the elections. She's not going to tell anyone whom she supports."

Lizzie attracted to Napoleon
Kisholi de Mel told us, confidentially, (but it was not off the record) that her client, Lizzie, was attracted to Napoleon but after careful consideration has decided to support Snowball because he genuinely cares about the animals. Ms. De Mel was quick to add that there has been no scandal with regard to the Napoleon-Lizzy attraction; both parties have behaved very professionally where the election is concerned. Speaking for Vicky, Shehara Jayasinghe said that her client initially supported Napoleon (purely because Lizzy supported him). Says Ms. Jayasinghe: "At present, Vicky is a Snowball supporter (because Lizzy crossed over). Having crossed over, however, my client has found Snowball to be kinder and more approachable than Napoleon whom she considers a sleazebag."

Commissioner of Elections, Feroze Kamardeen, has so far been upholding democratic election practices and hasn't yet lost his cool - despite threatening to do so on many an occasion. He is liked and respected by both the Human and Animal Parties for his sense of fairness and in the words of Vicky, the chicken, "Feroze is the Man!"

Sinwa Shoes is the main sponsor for the elections together with co-sponsors Dialog GSM and the National Lotteries Board. The special Animal Farm slide show and equipment is by courtesy of Aquarius Audio-Visuals. Yamaha Music Centre will provide the music equipment for the election day entertainment.

Costumes and masks for the candidates and their supporters are designed and produced by Sonali White of the Haddai Label. Elections for Animal Farm will commence on July 4 and conclude on July 8. Ballot papers are now available at the Elections Commision's regional office, the Lionel Wendt Theatre.

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