Monday 18 of July 2011
(Lanka-e-News -18.July.2011, 11.30P.M.) Elections commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya warned that if there are obstructions to holding a fair and free elections, the elections at those places will be postponed. He made this statement when addressing the discussions with the party secretaries at the penultimate discussion with them before the elections.The commissioner stated the above in answer , when the secretaries of opposition parties drew the attention of the Elections commissioner to the threat held out by the TNA that they would withdraw from the elections if a fair and free elections is not on the cards.
The Commissioner also told that special emphasis is placed on the elections in the north. In regard to the election activities at the polling centers and inspection of individuals in the north , instructions have been given for the police to engage in those tasks replacing the army, he noted. After the casting of votes , and when the ballot boxes are being transported for counting , arrangements have been made for party representatives to follow them, he added.
At the discussions with the Elections Commissioner , UNP Gen. Secretary Tissa Attanayake , Maithripala Sirisena of the UPFA , Tilvin Silva of the JVP and others participated
==========================================================
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka: Harder than Ever
18 Jul 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Two years since the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka is further from reconciliation than ever. Triumphalist in its successful “war on terror”, the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has refused to acknowledge, let alone address, the Tamil minority’s legitimate grievances against the state. The regime destroyed the Tigers by rejecting the more conciliatory approach of prior governments and adopting the insurgents’ brutality and intolerance of dissent. Now, contrary to the image it projects, the government has increasingly cut minorities and opponents out of decisions on their economic and political futures rather than work toward reconciliation. As power and wealth is concentrated in the Rajapaksa family, the risks of renewed conflict are growing again. Partners, especially India, Japan, the U.S., UK, European Union (EU) and UN, should send a strong message against increasing authoritarianism, condition aid on transparency and restored civilian administration in north and east and support accountability, including an international inquiry into alleged atrocities by both sides in the war’s final stages. Media release
