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EU monitors condemn Tiger poll boycott
By Nalaka Nonis
European Union (EU) election monitors yesterday unreservedly condemned the LTTE for denying the rights of voters in the North and East at the November 17 Presidential Election through intimidation and violence and called it a totally ‘undemocratic’ and ‘unacceptable’ act.

“The LTTE has to be rightly and strongly condemned for preventing the franchise of people in North and East. We cannot justify what it did to people by obstructing their right to vote by intimidating them and creating violence”, European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) Chief Monitor John Cushnahan said.

A report issued by the EUEOM yesterday quoted that ‘voting in the North and East was marred by violence accompanied by an enforced boycott by the LTTE, resulting in an extremely low voter participation in many areas’.
The report said there was extremely low participation of voters from the LTTE-controlled areas and also in government-controlled areas in the North and East where Tamil voters reside and that EUEOM members observed this in Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Mannar and Batticaloa districts.

It explained that a joint statement by the LTTE and the TNA on November 10 in which they had said that ‘it is futile to show any interests in the elections’ created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in these areas. It added that in order to ensure that no ambiguity existed as to what the LTTE wanted to happen in reality, they enforced this boycott by creating an environment which was rife with violence and intimidation.
“The LTTE does not like anybody to take away its command over the people in the north-east”, Mr. Cushnahan said.

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