Northern Province: The election rundown

22 SEPTEMBER 2013 AT 11:19 LK TIME.

The Tamil National Alliance recorded a massive victory in the Northern Provincial Council polls, securing more than of the total votes cast and securing 30 seats at the Council.

United People’s Freedom Alliance led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa came a distant second, securing seven seats at the assembly. The Sri Lanka Muslim congress obtained one seat from the Mannar district.

“This is a display of the resilince of the people,” said TNA parliamentarian Mathiaparanam Sumanthiran talking to The Republic Square. He added that the people of the North have spoken, and despite reservations about the Provincial Council system that the people have reaffirmed the mandate of the TNA in furthering the interests of the Tamil people.

Post-election violence reports from the Province remained staggered, in contrast to the pre-election incidents of intimidation that were reported earlier.

Ananthy Sasitharan, a key candidate of the TNA was attacked during the run up to the polls, and the party blamed the military for the incident. The North has a large military presence, a leftover from the war that was fought in the region till four years ago. United States expressed concern on the attack, and called for all parties to refrain from violence.

Turnout in the area was high, with initial forecasts recording Jaffna at 63%, Kilinochchi 70%, Mannar, 70%, Vavuniya 65% Mullaithivu – which saw the most violent fighting during the final phases of the war – recording 71%. Results showed polling rates close to 75% throughout the region.

Meanwhile reports said that Qatar-based news television channel Al-Jazeera was blocked on election day in Sri Lanka by the content providers Dialog TV and Sri Lanka Telecom following instructions by the government. In a report aired prior to the polls, Al-Jazeera was perceived as being critical of the government.

Elections Commissioner badged the polls “free and fair,” despite a few incidents of violence that occured mainly in the Northern and Central Provinces. Several people, including an election monitor, was hospitalised on polling day due to violence, but no deaths were reported. Voters in some areas of the North were reportedly told by military intelligence officers not to vote for the TNA. Two groups reportedly clashed in Vavuniya following the release of polling results.