Six candidates are already in the fray for the January 26 Presidential Election. Incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaska and the opposition’s common candidate General Sarath Fonseka will be the front runners, while Wickremabahu Karunaratna of the New Left Front, Wije Dias of the Socialist Equality Party, Siritunga Jaysooriya of USP and a Buddhist monk, Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratna Thera, will also contest.

On Friday the Commissioner General of Elections announced that nominations would be accepted on December 17 between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

This is in marked contrast to general elections where at least a week is given for handing over of nominations.

"The Commissioner has sent out invitations to the European Union, United Nations, Commonwealth Union and the Asian Association of Election Authorities (AAEA)", Additional Commissioner of Elections (Parliamentary) P. M. Siriwardena said yesterday.

He said that the presidential poll would be held according to the 2008 Electoral Register, according to which more than 14 million people are eligible to vote at the forthcoming poll. There is an increase of over 700,000 voters when compared to the presidential elections of 2005.

He said that arrangements are underway for the Commissioner of Elections to accept nominations on December 17 , 2009 from 9 to 11 am. The time set aside to file objections is from 9 am to 11.30 am on this day.

A candidate belonging to a recognized political party would have to deposit Rs 50,000 whereas an independent candidate has to deposit Rs 75,000 on or before December 16, 2009 before nominations are handed over.

The Commissioner of Registration of Persons A. G. Dharmadasa said that on a Cabinet Paper submitted by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake on November 13, Rs 35 million had been set aside to issue temporary Identity Cards which are valid for three months for voting purposes.

He said that with the elections being held according to the Electoral Register for 2008, it was revealed that 2.6 million registered voters did not posses NICs though some had alternate identity cards which are recognized by the Commissioner of Elections.

Dharmadasa said that voters who do not possess any alternate identity cards should forward their applications through their respective Grama Niladharis to the 331 Divisional Secretariats in the country. The cost of the two photographs required for the identity card and processing will be met by the Government

Deputy Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya said that applications for postal voting which commenced on November 27 will continue till December 7, 2009.

He said that further provisions had been made by the Commissioner of Elections for displaced voters to register themselves to vote. The applications should be forwarded without delay through the Grama Niladari of the area, where they reside at present.

With the Assistant Commissioner of Elections for the Jaffna District P. Kuhanathan overseas, the Assistant Commissioner in the Trincomalee District S. Suthakaran has assumed duties temporarily in Jaffna. He said that according to the Electoral Register for 2008 there are 721,359 registered voters in the Jaffna district eligible to vote at the forthcoming Presidential elections.

He said that with the revision of the Electoral Register for 2009 finalized by June 2009, the IDPs who were being resettled in Jaffna or countrywide could apply during the Registration Claim Period which commences from January 1 to January 28, 2010.

Elections Secretariat sources said that there were 112,924 registered voters in the Vavuniya electorate, 68,729 in the Mullaithivu electorate and 85,322 in the Mannar electorate in the North.

The 17th Amendment to the Constitution envisages establishment of the Constitutional Council which will in turn appoint independent commissions to run the public service, judiciary, elections department, police and bribery department.

Responding to a query raised at a Temple Trees meeting with the media, the President said that the proposed Constitutional Council could never be independent therefore it would not serve the purpose. He pointed out the absurdity in the expectation that the 17 Amendment would be panacea for Sri Lanka’s ills by way of having independent commissions.

A smiling President asked how persons appointed by government and Opposition politicians could be considered independent and went on a name a judge proposed to the CC though he was involved in politics.  (Read More)

CWC President Mutu Sivalingam speaking while campaigning in Nuwara Eliya yesterday afternoon said there was no necessity to announce their support to the President through media conferences as they were already campaigning for him in the hills.

The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Eelam People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (EPRLF) (Padmanabha Wing) said they would make their public announcements soon. (Read More)

once again, at the cost of hundreds of millions of public funds, we have to face a Presidential election. Two equally bloody, corrupt, and parasitic Capitalist Alliances have come forward for the contest. Is there a real choice between the incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapakse and retired General Sarath Fonseka? Let us not be duped anymore.

This Presidential campaign is going to be a bitter and deadly fight between two equally reactionary camps of the ruling class as to who is going to feast on the blood of the Tamil nation. Let us not become mere pawns in a deadly game of chess played by two rival camps of the very same Capitalist ruling class. Let us hold this State and this ruling class accountable for the crimes willfully committed against the people and against humanity. We shall enumerate the most glaring issues that concentrate and characterize the spiraling, rotting crisis of the system. Let us do so as a basis to mobilize mass protest and agitation against the prevailing political order, that has rained untold suffering, misery, poverty and degradation on the people. (Read More)

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday fixed December 17 as the day for accepting nominations for the presidential election and January 26 next year as the election date.

Some 14,088,500 people are eligible to vote at this election. When compared with the 2005 presidential poll this is an increase of more than 700,000 eligible  voters.

Last Monday President Mahinda Rajapaksa directed the Elections Commissioner to hold the presidential election on a suitable date and according to the law, he was required to announce the dates for the acceptance of nominations and the conducting of polls within seven days of the directive being issued.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday said politics made strange bed fellows with those who represented the political party of tyre pyre victims during the 1989/90 period and members of the political party that sent thousands of youth in tyre pyres were now appearing on the same political stage - to reverse the government’s development drive and conspire against the country.

Addressing the Project Commencement Ceremony of the Hambantota International Airport at Mattala, President Rajapaksa said he recollected how hundreds of youth were burnt on tyre pyres at the roadside in Mattala when he travelled around the area.

The detractors of the government have already started their mud slinging campaign despite repeated pleas for fair comments, he said. (Read More)

The opposition common candidate General  Sarath Fonseka yesterday said he shed his  uniform prior to his retirement not to become a dictator but to protect democracy in this country.

Addressing the National Lawyers Association at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo last evening, General Fonseka said the government was today using the  slogan “Api Wenuwen Api’  to discredit the armed forces and not to recognize their valour.

Stressing that he was addressing gathering in the capacity of his new role as politician and not as a soldier, Gen. Fonseka insisted his goal is to counter dictatorship and set up a democratic society sans corruption and terror in order to safeguard the rights of the people. (Read More)

The ruling UPFA said yesterday it had never called former Army Commander and Chief of Defence Staff Sarath Fonseka a traitor, but believed he was caught in a trap prepared by non patriotic forces.

SLFP general secretary and Minister Maithripala Sirisena told a news conference the UNP was politically bankrupt and was unable to put forward a presidential candidate of its own.

“The UNP was politically strong from the time of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake to President R. Premadasa but those who supported the party earlier are now disappointed with its present leadership. Unknowingly the JVP has also taken a wrong decision. The Diaspora which supported terrorism will be overjoyed with this decision to remove a person from among the patriots,” Mr. Sirisena said. (Read More)