• Hire or fire: Taxi drivers' dilemma
• DM denies terror stories, says they were part of UNP ploy
• SLMC: probe this shameful poll
• Polls monitors challenge 'bias' charge
• UNP has evidence of VIP thuggery-Gamini
• What religious leaders have to say:

Hire or fire: Taxi drivers' dilemma

Among the large number of vehicles that were diverted to Wayamba last Monday were both official and non-official vehicles and now a week later questions are being asked how they got there.

The Airport Taxi Service was stretched to its limits with more than 400 taxis going to Wayamba. Taxi drivers claimed these taxi's were harnessed by leading PA politicians. Of the 668 registered taxi's, the first 200 numbered taxi's had been left to handle the hires at the airport.

These taxi drivers, claimed that after the airport taxi fleet had been expanded by the current government, they had not got their fair share of hires.

Meanwhile, a notice at the entrance to the taxi yard warned that the drivers who had run hires on Monday would be punished, and those who had gone to Wayamba would be rewarded.

A notice addressed to taxi owners and drivers thanked them for responding to a request of a powerful PA politician and management of the taxi service to go to Wayamba for PC elections.

DM denies terror stories, says they were part of UNP ploy

"A cruel force which is unwilling to accept the victory gained by the Wayamba people and the PA together is trying to make it out to be a rigged election. In reality this is heightened instance of the strategy adopted by the UNP knowing for sure that they were going to be defeated.

"First they tried to create a terror which did not exist. Then they tried to increase a non-existent terror to the point of heightened terror. Not stopping there, they started making people carry out terror activities and credited them to other's accounts. Towards succeeding in this strategy of creating terror, through their good friends they gained the unstinted support of private electronic and print media. Like cats to milk the so-called election observers also joined this heap.

"On the other hand it is no secret that there are many entries in the police stations documenting the instances when the UNP engaged in thuggery. There is clear evidence to show that it was the UNP that lifted the ballot boxes in an election centre in the Kalpitiya area in the Puttlam district. In the same way it has been proved that it is the UNP that burnt ballot boxes here. 

"In this instance, it was I who had to speak to the President and the Army and take steps to put in the Army to protect the ballot boxes. If the PA stole the election there would have been no necessity to take steps to safeguard ballot boxes in this way."

SLMC: probe this shameful poll

Mr. Ashraff told The Sunday Times they were confident the President had no part in such acts but she needed to take tough action against those who were responsible for the blatant lawlessness.

Asked whether he knew who were responsible, Mr. Ashraff said the whole country was aware and he did not wish to name them.

Asked whether he would resign from his ministerial post, Mr. Ashraff said the SLMC was not going against the government but was playing a useful role in protecting the good name of the President.

"This is not a threat. We can't be a party to tarnish the image of the President, because we believe that the President had no part directly or indirectly in election rigging," he said.

The two candidates backed by the SLMC at the Wayamba polls got 11,333 and 9791 preferential votes but they were not elected. 

Meanwhile SLMC General Secretary Rauf Hakeem in a letter to the PA General Secretary D.M. Jayaratna has called for an urgent meeting of the PA Executive Committee to discuss the Wayamba polls. The party wants President Kumaratunga to preside over the meeting.

In another letter to the Commissioner of Elections, the SLMC has called on him to conduct elections for the North-East provincial council in addition to the five other provinces.

Polls monitors challenge 'bias' charge

Senior cabinet ministers on Wednesday accused the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) and Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) of being partial and having support from interested parties.

CMEV Coordinating Director Paikyasothi Saravanamuttu told The Sunday Times that they got the approval of the elections Commissioner and the Police to carry out their monitoring work.

The Commissioner in a letter dated December 9, 1998 had approved the monitoring activity of the centre while advising it to seek the assistance of the returning officers in the two districts to obtain information.

"The CMEV officials in the two districts on many occasions discussed matters concerning violence. I also attended a meeting with Minister Mangala Samaraweera," Dr. Saravanamuttu said. 

PAFFREL Coordinating Secretary Kingsley Rodrigo told The Sunday Times they too carried out polls monitoring activities with the approval of the Commissioner of Elections.

"We had discussions with ministers Dharmasiri Senanayake and G L Peries. We did request for a meeting with the President but it did not work out. We also met other political party leaders," he said.

The CMEV also rejected allegations that it was bias when monitoring the elections.

Dr. Saravanamuttu said the centre would not accept any allegations until they were proved.

"We received reports from returning officers. Our officials double checked with the police. So where is the evidence to prove that our reports are biased. We stand by our reports." he said.

PAFFREL officials claim they can prove that the incidents are authentic.

The Election Commissioner's decision to reject some 47,000 votes also came under fire from the CMEV.

The CMEV said that instead of cancelling the votes which were rigged the Commissioner should have ordered the cancellation of the booths where such riggings took place.

The centre also disputed the number of polling booths where rigging took place. Of the 55 booths in Mawathagama, the commissioner says rigging took place in 18 booths but CMEV observers say the figure should be 32. 

It is not only the two independent bodies which are calling for fresh polls. Leading Buddhist and Catholic prelates of NWP have also expressed their displeasure.

Commenting on the allegations levelled at the polls monitors, the prelates said they backed their reports which were based on information received from returning officers and double checked with the police.

Commenting on allegations of foreign funding, Dr. Saravanamuttu said they were funded by Asia Foundation. He said their funding source was never a secret and it was mentioned in the reports.

PAFFREL's Mr. Rodrigo said that at least two of their officers were assaulted during the elections.

UNP has evidence of VIP thuggery-Gamini

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr. Perera said the UNP would launch a countrywide campaign calling for the cancellation of the Wayamba election and the resignation of the PA government. Excerpts:

By Roshan Peiris

A: No. We will definitely not accept the results. 

We are the real winners. We got our votes fairly and so did the JVP despite all the rigging and thuggery. We are calling for the cancellation of the whole election. We are calling on all opposition parties to come together in fighting against the PA at the next elections. We are also going to courts and start a countrywide campaign calling for the resignation of the government. 

I know the people are with us. The religious prelates, most NGOs and also the independent media will back this campaign.

Q: You look tired and angry. Why?

A: I have been in politics since 1968 and this is the worst election. There was open thuggery, violence and fraud on an unprecedented scale. They chased opposition agents from hundreds of booths. The President must take the responsibility.

Q: Why do you say that?

A: We have information that members of VVIP security divisions in civvies were allegedly seen harassing people. Two ASPs were recognised by many of us at Mawattagama.

Q: Were you attacked?

A: When they found that I was an eyewitness to the rigging of the elections, there was an attempt to take me into custody. So I was advised by our leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to take precautions since PA supporters might stage an incident to frame me. I was told that they wanted to use Rupavahini and other state media to tell the voters that I was under arrest and thereby giving a wrong picture. This happened to me one-and-a half years ago also at the local polls. I was taken into custody at Bingiriya and kept for three hours. 

Q: It is alleged some PA VIPs brought people from their electorates to vote in Wayamba. Is it correct?

A: Not only politicians, we also recognised heads of corporations using official vehicles to bring in voters.

Security men in civvies were also involved in these illegal acts.

Q: What else did they do?

A: In the evening and that night, they looted and burnt targeted houses of UNP supporters. They threw acid at people. A mother and her two daughters are warded at the Kurunegala hospital and anyone can see those pathetic cases.

Q: Couldn't the UNP do anything to prevent such incidents?

A: It all happened openly but we could not do much because the PA gangs were armed with T-56 rifles, pistols and hand grenades. 

Many top PA politicians and top officials were involved. We have registration numbers of vehicles and other details.

Q: So, how would you describe this election?

A: A mafia operation. But the curses and the blood of innocent people will be on the heads of those who perpetrated such crimes.

But I must also say a big thank you to Wayamba's brave people who came forward and voted despite all the threats and thuggery. 

For the PA government it was a matter of win or die. If it lost the elections it would have been the beginning of the end for the PA government. 

Thousands who supported the PA in 1994 have now lost respect for it and agree this was the worst election in our history. 

What religious leaders have to say:

By Hiranthi Fernando

He had received alarming reports from the people of the area and monitoring groups. 

Bishop Fernando is known to be forthright and has been critical when necessary, without fear or favour to any political party. He gave the following statement:

"A few days ago, we had an election – if indeed it can be called an election – in the North Western Province. Surviving that event was like surviving a war.

"We hear people talking of violence and fraud in the past. Certainly nobody justifies wrong doings of the past. But there is so much that is ugly, hypocritical and immoral in the present, that there is no need to harp back to the past. Violence and fraud can never be justified. We want deeds, not words. 

"One should honestly ask, can any governing body that grabbed power by blatantly unethical means win the respect of the governed? Is such a body morally legitimate?

"The fabric of our national life is coming apart. We cannot go on like this. I dread to think of what would happen to our country if we were to face a few more exercises of this type. People will lose all confidence in the democratic process. 

"Divisions and tensions will increase and become a permanent feature. 

"Such a polarisation, fostered by politicians, is not the desire of our people. They want to live in peace and fellowship.

"It is my view that before the people of our country lose that sense of shock and horror they experienced during this so-called election, we should set about preparing and passing legislation to guarantee fool-proof, just and fair elections. 

"It is a task that has to be given national priority. There can be no just and fair election as long the Government in power – in practice if not in theory – can have its own way in conducting elections. The possible hastening of electoral reform is the only silver lining I can see in this period of gloom.

"The overwhelming majority of our people, in all walks of life, yearn for peace and justice. Given a chance, they will lend their support to any Party that genuinely upholds those values. Even politically, it will help reap good dividends. It pays to be honest.

"We are experiencing a prolonged war in the North and East. An unfortunate side effect of this war is the culture of violence that is gradually gripping our country. As long as the war lasts – with its rhetoric and political jostling, its deserters and fire arms, its news bulletins and killings – we cannot think of overcoming this culture of violence. Thus, ending the war is another urgent imperative. Marred elections, leading to further frustration are not likely to help that process.

"On Jan. 25 the people of Wayamba woke up from their sleep and suddenly realized that they had become second class citizens of Sri Lanka. For all practical purposes, their democratic right to vote had been taken away from them. It was an ironic memorial to fifty years of independence in Sri Lanka. People of Wayamba demand, as a right, a fresh election."

Ven. Horawadunne Rajinda Thera of Sama Viharaya, Chilaw

"Although the people had the right to vote, they could not exercise their right. When they went to cast their vote, they found that others had already cast their votes. There were no ballot papers left for them.

"The People's Alliance would have won a majority in the Wayamba Province, without all this rigging of elections. Because of what the PA did, the party lost the respect it had. 

"The people are very angry about losing their right to vote, which they value greatly. 

"After all, they get this right only once in several years. The loss of that right has caused the people much pain of mind," he said.

Lebbe and a Muslim Religious dignitary 

"The correct conduct of elections is as important as winning the election. Although I have not witnessed any incidents personally, a number of people, Muslims and non Muslims, young and old, males and females, were all talking about the conduct of this election. 

"An election should be conducted in accordance with human rights and one's religious duties. There should be no violence and fighting. On the day of the election, people were talking about the tense situation. I summoned some religious dignitaries, some businessmen and other educated people who did not have party affiliations. We discussed the prevailing situation. 

"There were about 45 people present. Dividing ourselves into six groups, we went to meet all the Muslim candidates from all parties in Puttalam town. We requested them to conduct this election in a peaceful manner. Most of the candidates admitted that the election was not being conducted in the way it should have been. 

"In a country where religion is normally respected, a situation like this is regrettable. 

"The statement by Government Agencies about the conduct of the elections and the impression given that all the problems were created by the opposition groups is not acceptable to the people of the district who are fully aware of the facts. 

"This situation has brought about a certain amount of distrust and caused damage to the reputation of the President herself.

"Therefore, it is my opinion rather than try to investigate who was responsible for the problems, to accept that they occurred and hold fresh elections to regain the reputation of the President. 

"The people of Puttalam say that injustice has been done by denying their right to vote in most of the polling centres due to gross impersonation," he said.

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