NPC Polls Close Round Up: Voting Was Slow In Jaffna
September 21, 2013
Voting has concluded in Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council election, where initial estimates say voter turnout in the historic election for the country’s Tamil population would be about 68 percent province wide.
Voting was slow in the Jaffna District in the early morning hours but picked up significantly by mid-morning and slowed again by afternoon.
In the Northern Capital of Jaffna, the elderly, the displaced, former combatants and young people arrived at polling stations to cast their votes creating long lines at selected polling stations.
Polling commenced at 7 a.m. with election monitors recording about 20 incidents of violence and intimidation while voting was underway.
PAFFREL, a local monitoring agency confirmed that 30 soldiers had visited the Mathagal village in Jaffna and told people to refrain from casting their ballots. The local monitors said the entire village had not voted in today’s election.
The Tamil National Alliance the main opposition party in this election that is widely expected to win the poll says voters have been prevented from reaching polling stations by soldiers in civilian clothing. Many of the soldiers were from nearby army camps, the TNA says, and voters were able to recognise them on sight.
In Pali Nagar in the Mullaitivu District, the home of a TNA polling agent was burned down, local election monitors said.
One TNA candidate was shot at outside a polling station that was next to a military camp, local monitors CaFFE confirmed. The incident took place at around 2 p.m.
The Northern Province is electing its provincial representatives for the first time in 25 years. The Provincial Council system set up under the terms of the Indo-Lanka Accord was the 1987 attempt to resolve Sri Lanka’s ethnic struggle that had erupted into an armed insurgency by the 80s. The last time Northern Tamils voted to elect a Provincial Council the provinces of the North and East were still one administrative unit. In 2006, by Supreme Court order, the East was officially demerged from the North, with its own Council.
Keppettipola Disawe Was A Prabakaran
By C. Wijeyawickrema -September 21, 2013
“If Sir D.B. Jayatilleke became the first PM of Ceylon, the island’s fate would have been so different.” - Ven. Balangoda Anandamaitreeya Mahanayaka Thero
“UNP and SLFP destroyed Sri Lanka.” - Ven. Walpola Rahula (at a public meeting attended by both JRJ and Mrs. B)
Snakes wondering yonder!
It looks like president Rajapakse (MR) is getting what he has asked for even before the Wigneswaran election on the 21st. Like every other previous president or PM, he has become a prisoner in the hands of the Colombo black-white establishment, Marxists remnants and the owner-families and officers of the gold mine called the PC white elephant. He did not want to remove 13-A because of these southern PC catchers. Rajiv Gandhi and Dixit wanted only one PC—the merged N-E province, the traditional Tamil homeland recognized in the Rajiv-JRJ 1987 agreement. But JRJ thought he could outsmart the young race car driving pilot by extending the agreement to the other seven provinces also. Now in an ironical twist, MR has taken a decision to hold an NP election, to save the gold diggers of the southern PCs. Read More
