Vanni district UPFA candidate Sivanathan Kishore, who failed to win a seat in Thursday’s parliamentary elections, called on the newly-elected TNA MPs to shun communal politics and focus on people’s development and rehabilitation.
The former TNA MP said he was disappointed some voters in Vanni were carried away by what he called a ‘Prabhakaran wave’ and chose TNA members, ignoring his dedicated services to the Vanni people before and after the humanitarian operations.
Kishore pointed out that the UPFA had made a major breakthrough in the Vanni electoral district capturing two seats although 180,000 registered voters there did not cast their ballots on Thursday.
The TNA has only secured a around 4,000 majority votes over the UPFA in the Vanni district, he explained.
He also cast doubts at ageing TNA MP R Sampanthan’s ability to provide a strong leadership to the Tamil people.
Kishore pledged his support to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to carry forward the development programmes in Vanni and other areas.
He urged the new TNA MPs to spend their time in their constituencies in future without staying in Colombo or running away to India and other countries.
CaFFE observes that a conducive environment to have a standard election in the newly resettled Killinochchi and Mullaththivvu areas. The people new resettled in these areas lacked even basic infrastructural services such as transportation and identification documents.
Furthermore, while IDP’s residing inside the Menik Farm IDP camp were allowed to vote with their Camp ID during the previous 2010 Presidential election, people in the newly resettled areas were not allowed to vote with their Camp ID in the 2010 General election because they had been newly resettled. Due to ineffective and nonexistent voter education in these areas voters were unclear about what identification papers they could vote with. These issues combined to lead to almost empty polling centers in Mullaththivvu.
Election officials to decide on re poll in the affected polling stations
The elections secretariat said yesterday it was yet to decide whether to declare the overall results of the Kandy and Trincomalee district without taking into account the votes polled in some of the polling stations where the counting was suspended or whether to hold fresh polls there.
The final results were withheld at several polling stations in the Kandy district’s Nawalapitiya electorate due to numerous incidents of election related violence while the final result of postal voting in the Trincomalee district was also withheld due to election malpractice at one of the polling stations.
Trincomalee Assistant Elections Commissioner Nishantha Pinidiya said the high level of election malpractice in the Trincomalee district’s Kumburupitiya polling station had compelled election officials to suspend the counting of votes.
“If we think the voting at the affected polling stations will not affect the final results of the Kandy and Trincomalee districts we will declare the results of the two districts or if otherwise we will hold fresh elections for those registered to vote at the affected polling stations,” a spokesman for the elections secretariat said.
International election monitors attached to the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) said yesterday that some candidates had violated election laws even on polling day by distributing their leaflets and handbills among voters.
ANFREL’s executive director Ms. Somsri Han-Anuntasuk, who monitored the polls in the Kurunegala district, said that some candidates were seen doing this near polling stations. Besides this, she said, some government ministers who contested the election were freely using state vehicles pasted with their stickers. Ms. Anuntasuk stressed the need to have elections regulations that would prohibit candidates being present in polling stations once they had cast their votes.
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFÉ) charged yesterday that the lethargic approach shown by officers of the elections department, the police department and others towards conducting a free and fair general election (from the pre poll period up to polling day) had cauesd the people of Sri Lanka to lose their faith in the franchise.
CaFFÉ Director Keerthi Tennekoon told a media briefing that this election had recorded the lowest voter turnout in the history of parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka since 1989, and that that was a result of people losing faith in elections. He directly blamed the department of elections and the police for not taking action during the pre poll period to stop violations of election laws and said this had resulted in a breakdown of the rule of law on polling day yesterday.
Mr. Tennekoon said CaFFÉ has received reports of 122 incidents yesterday, with seven cases of assault, 64 instances of violation of election laws, 21 instances of chasing away of elections officers from polling stations and 27 cases of illegal propaganda.
The Elections Commissioner yesterday instructed election officials to stain only the ring finger but not the little finger of voters as usual before they cast their votes.
The little fin ger of voters was stained with indelible ink up to now to prevent election frauds, Deputy Commissioner of Elections W.P.Sumanasiri said.
Mr. Sumanasiri said a pen, instead of a pencil used up to now, will be provided to voters to mark the vote and preferential votes.
A voter is entitled to mark three preferential votes in addition to the vote. The marking of the vote for a political party or an independent group is vital. Preferential votes will not be valid without a vote marked against a political party symbol.After marking the vote for a political party, the voter could mark three preferential votes with an X. Voters are free not to mark preferential votes or to mark only one or two preferential votes as he or she wishes, Mr. Sumanasiri added.
The Elections Secretariat will be able to announce the first postal voting result before midnight, he said.
The Trade Union Confederation urged approximately 200,000 government employees, involved in election duties today (08), to ensure a free and fair election. General Secretary of the TUC Saman Ratnapriya said yesterday (07) that it was their responsibility to uphold the democratic right of the voters by ensuring that polling and counting of votes was incident free.
According to election monitoring reports, there have been over three hundred cases where election laws have been grossly violated by candidates and their supporters. There have also been reports of election violence and even one murder related to election violence, he said.
The elections are being held in an environment where the year 2008 voters register was being used for the 2010 General Election. Over 100,000 voters have not received their polling cards. There have also been many inconsistencies in issuing identity cards.
Ratnapriya urged those on election duty to prevent illegal acts, to resist intimidation and undue pressure. The TUC should be informed of such issues as soon as possible, he said, pledging the Confederation‘s intervention in the event of any government employee, on election duty, being subject to inconvenience whilst on duty.
Ratnapriya requested the support of all political parties and individuals contesting the elections to help the TUC to conduct the election in a free and fair manner.
8th April 2010Election Day Press ReleaseKey Features
·Violence against Election Monitors
·Rule of Election Law Failure evolving into Election Violence
·Franchise Denial for Northern IDP’s
·Election Commissioner Violates of Right to Information
·Low Voter Turnout Highlighting Loss of Public Confidence in Electoral Process
The Campaign for Free and Fair Elections would like to highlight the absolute failure in implementing the Rule of Law as a major feature of this 2010 General Election. From the Pre Election build up to Election Day the inability of the Election Commission and Police Department to enforce election laws resulted in the evolution of Election Law Violations into Election Law Violence. Furthermore, the denial of the franchise to IDP’s in Northern areas during Election Day due to the non existence of clear guidelines on legitimate identification papers highlights a major structural gap in providing IDP’s with the right to vote. For the first time in recent history the Election Commissioner failed to hold a press conference and inform the media about Pre-Election or Election Day proceedings. CaFFE observes that a systematic denial to the right to public information has taken place with the Election Commissioner not being non transparent to the media and disallowing the media and election monitors to collect photographic evidence of Election malpractices.Finally, CaFFE notes that a low voter turnout during this election indicates public disenchantment in the electoral process and the inability of the State Institutions to guarantee a free and fair Sri Lankan Election.
Violence against Election Monitors
After CaFFE released details about election malpractices in the Nawalapitiya Kandy District, CaFFE Kandy District Coordinator Mr. Thushara Wijeratne was assaulted with a deadly weapon causing him grievous bodily harm and hospitalizing him. In addition to this a total of 3 election monitors have been assaulted by supporters of the ruling party during Election Day. At the time this report was compiled the condition of CaFFE’s Kandy District Coordinator is unknown. CaFFE notes that a pattern in which Election Monitors are targeted through violence for revealing election malpractices is a disturbing development in relation to Election Day violence.......
Digamadulla district election officials said yesterday they would not conduct the polls in the area if the police failed to stop the election violence now raging there.
They said the situation had worsened after Ampara Deputy Mayor Saman Morayas and Eastern Province Minister Wimalaweera Dissanayake were assaulted in Ampara town on Sunday.
People yesterday burnt tyres and put up black flags in Damana, Padiyatalawa, Uhana and Dehiattakandiya as a mark of protest.
An election official said the police were asked, to bring the situation under control as soon as possible.
“Otherwise, we will be forced to postpone the voting at several polling booths,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Dissanayake who was denied nomination by the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in Digamadulla said he was thoroughly disgusted at the violence unleashed against him by his own party men.
He said his supporters were being assaulted and intimidated on a daily basis by henchmen of a powerful UPFA candidate.
“On Sunday evening, an unidentified gang stormed into the chena cultivation of my private secretary. The watchman who was there had been threatened. Another businessman who supports me has also come under threat,” he said.
Mr. Dissanayake said he had still not made a political decision on what he should do after the elections.
Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) accused some candidates of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of grossly violating election laws and warnings by the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake.
The CTU General Secretary Joseph Stalin alleged that teachers and principals in the Sabaragamuwa province, mainly from the schools in Ratnapura, had been summoned to participate in a walk which supported Power and Energy Minister W.D.J Seneviratne yesterday.
“These teachers and principals were participating in the walk during school hours. Academic activities in a number of schools were disrupted due to this incident,” pointed out Stalin. He asserted that not only are these incidents gross violations of election laws, but are unacceptable as they have deprived the students’ rights of continuing their academic activities without any disruption. (Read More)
Foreign Election Monitor - Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) recommended that political posters, hoardings and leaflets during election time should be legalized and a strict advertising budget to be stipulated for it, if the Election Commissioner’s Department and the Police, do not have any control over the matter.
ANFREL Executive Director, Somsri Han-Anuntasuk, who is currently present in the country told the Daily Mirror that although it is illegal in Sri Lanka, poster campaign is legal in some countries and may be beneficial for the voter. “The posters provide more information to the voter about the candidates and their policies. Therefore it is somewhat beneficial.
“We can see that the illegal posters have been put up by all the political parties. If the relevant authorities find it hard to control the problem, they should legalize posters and hoardings during an election period,” she recommended.
However, a strict budget should be stipulated to ensure fairness,” she said. She said that high spending on political advertising is not fair on the smaller parties that have lower budgets and therefore cannot afford an expensive political campaign. (Read More0
They said the situation had worsened after Ampara Deputy Mayor Saman Morayas and Eastern Province Minister Wimalaweera Dissanayake were assaulted in Ampara town on Sunday. 
Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU) accused some candidates of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of grossly violating election laws and warnings by the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake. 
