Democracy Declined And Militarization Increased: Vasu
September 18, 2014
Minister of National Languages and Social Intergation, Vasudeva Nanayakkara has expressed concern over the dwindling democracy and increasing militarization Sri Lanka is presently undergoing.
Vasu
The Minister had made these remarks in his speech at the National Convention on Inter Religious Integration organised by the National Peace Council.
“The only way to ensure unity and national reconciliation is to strengthen democracy. Only through democracy can we get equality for all citizens and build ethnic coexistence,” he had stated.
Among those who participated in the convention had been religious leaders, representatives of community based organisations and diplomats.
US Ambassador Michele J. Sison speaking at the event had pointed out that all members of the gathering at the convention including religious leaders, government leaders, community based organisations and the media have extremely important roles to play in strengthening values of coexistence.
“All your good work is badly needed to continue building strong and fruitful relations among various communities,” she had added.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Ambassador Grete Lochen had emphasized on the fact that Norway had no interest in creating communal tensions in Sri Lanka.
“The Norwegian government shares the values of dignity, respect, diversity and dialogue. My government is deeply concerned about an increasingly polarised world where the narrative is more about exclusion than inclusion,” she had stated.
Unregistered Vehicles Roam Free In Uva And The Police Are Too Afraid To Catch Them
September 18, 2014
Election monitoring bodies have been continuously expressing concern over the use of unregistered vehicles by the UPFA candidates in Uva for their provincial poll campaigning activities and and to transport thugs who have been spreading a climate of fear particularly in the Moneragala district.
Despite the repeated complaints, the Police however has been turning a blind eye to these vehicles and they have been used by the UPFA candidates since the commencement of the election campaigning until now. In many occasions, these vehicles have driven past the Police check points that were set up in the Uva province as a remedy to the rampant election law violations and yet not a single vehicle was apprehended or even stopped.
Below is the image of such unregistered vehicle used for election campaigning purposes of UPFA candidate Wadiwel Suresh. This image was taken yesterday evening at about 3.25 pm in the Badulla town.
It was a few minutes afterwards that UPFA MInister S. Thondaman’s vehicle resulted in the death of one man and injured 15 persons during an election rally in Bandarawela last evening. Thondaman had deployed six unregistered vehicles for election campaining but the Police failed to apprehend any one of those vehicles or its drivers.
