Minister of Education and the General Secretary of UPFA Susil Premajayantha said yesterday allowing election monitors at the counting centres  at the general elections is a good move.

Mr. Premajayantha made this point responding to a question asked at a forum organised by  Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC on ensuring that the upcoming general elections  is a free and fair one. He said Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) had requested that their officers are allowed to monitor the counting centres and it is a good move to allow them to do so.

Stating that five members of each political party are allowed at each counting centre, the Minister said it is essential to ensure the counting of votes of an election is fair. (Read More)

The police yesterday arrested UNP Ratnapura District candidate Dunesh Gankanda alleging that he had attacked a group of policemen at the Kahawatte police station.

Ratnapura SSP L.J. Kularatne alleged three policemen had been injured in the incident that took place around 5.30 am yesterday.

However, making a statement to the Kahawatte police Mr. Gankanda said he was severely assaulted by police officers.

The Ratnapura SSP said the incident had taken place when the police had tried to remove two cutouts of Mr. Gankanda that had allegedly obstructed a road in the Pelmadulla town. Mr. Gankanda in his complaint to the police had said he questioned the police officers as to why only his cutouts were being removed when there were many cutouts of government Ministers displayed without any problem. He also said that he even showed the cutouts of government ministers to the policemen who had come to remove his cutouts.

“I was asked to report to the CID at 9.30 a.m. and they questioned me at length about my relationships with the General and his private secretary Senaka de Silva,” said Lakthilaka speaking to the Daily Mirror.

The questioning continued for about two and a half hours and also covered the nature of Shiral Lakthilaka’s involvement in General Fonseka’s presidential campaign. The UNF contestant had refused to answer some questions on the grounds that it is his right to support a political election candidate of his choice. (Read More)

The main opposition United National Party (UNP) said yesterday its manifesto for the April 8 general elections would be more people friendly with its focus on safeguarding free education, free healthcare and providing employment for graduates.

UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told the party’s Colombo District convention that better education and better health care were vital for a country’s development.

“In many countries such as the United States, Japan, China and India, education and health are considered vital for development but in Sri Lanka these sectors are largely neglected,” he said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe said it was ridiculous to see the ministers who were in charge of health and education after destroying these sectors claiming they qualified to hold the Prime Ministerial portfolio.  (Read More)

The UNP executive committee that met this morning also discussed the problem of the party nominations for Monaragala district.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told the media later that the leader of the district team ex-MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara and the deputy leader Ananda Kumarasiri are under the probe.

Nihal Chandrasiri was appointed as the acting district organizer for Monaragala district while a disciplinary investigation is carried out properly, he said. (Read More)

Addressing a press conference, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said that his party was concerned about possible election malpractices at this election, and therefore the presence of foreign monitors would be important.

Mr. Attanayake said that the party would launch its election manifesto on March 16 outlining fresh measures to bring down the cost of living.

Meanwhile, UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekara told Parliament during the debate on the extension of the state of emergency that the election authorities had planned to import paper from India to print ballot papers. (Read More)

The UNP members of the Western Provincial Council is to request party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to look into the omission of provincial councilor C. Y. P. Ram’s name from the party’s Colombo District list for the upcoming general election in April.

A resolution in this regard was passed at the group meeting of the UNP Western Provincial Council members last morning prior to yesterday’s sessions.

UNP Member of the Provincial Council Sujeewa Senasinghe who moved the resolution had said such irregularities would affect the party. He was of the opinion that the opportunity which the party has to win the Colombo District at the coming general election will be affected by such a move.

They were also of the opinion that the party should do justice to Mr.Ram.

All the members who were present at the group meeting has approved this resolution according to sources.

It has been reported that party leader Ranil Wickremesighe had assured Mr. Ram that he would be UNP’s mayoral candidate for Colombo at the next local government election in 2011

Parliament was reconvened yesterday on a presidential proclamation to pass the emergency regulations for a further period of one month.They switched their allegiance to the government and accepted ministerial portfolios during the presidential election period. Subsequently, the UNP expelled them from the party. However, the two dissidents went to court against their expulsions. 

However, after the dissolution of Parliament on February, they withdrew their cases as the Supreme Court dismissed the cases. (Read More)

People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) spokesman Rohana Hettiarachchi said he personally visited several districts and a large amount of propaganda material is still on display.  “I visited several districts in the Southern province and through the observations it was evident that although the posters were removed, the cut-outs and the banners were remaining,” he added. 

Hettiarachchi asserted that the reason behind the tendency to leave out the cut-outs and banners could be the political pressure on the authorities responsible of removing the propaganda material. “We also noticed that the majority of the material belonged to the candidates contesting from the ruling party.”  (REad More)

She alleged that the Commissioner had made conflicting statements when he announced the results of the January 26 Presidential election.

Rosia Senanayake, who is also the opposition leader of the Western Provincial Council, said that she is not "fighting" for preferential votes as Colombo District voters know that she stands for the truth, freedom, democracy, dignity of women and against corruption and bribery.

"There must be at least 25 percent of women represented in Parliament. How can 4 percent of women be heard among 96 per cent of men. There should be more women involved in politics at all level," Mrs. Senanayake said. (Read More)