Now Free Petrol; UPFA Candidates Continue To Bribe Uva Voters
September 17, 2014
With the deadline on election campaigning for the Uva provincial polls coming up tomorrow, the UPFA candidates have escalated their voter bribery schemes.
Mahinda and Sashindra
The most recent attempt has been the distribution of coupons to three-wheeler drivers in the Uva province to obtain petrol and engine oil free of charge as part of a scheme to transport crowds to a nearby UPFA rally. Election Monitoring body- Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon has told media the coupons have been distributed to obtain one liter of petrol and 500 ml of engine oil free of charge at a filling station in Puwakgodamulla along the Mahiyangana road as a UPFA rally is to be held near the station.
Other ridiculous attempts at voter bribery include distribution of saucepans and chairs as well as white cloth used to sew attire worn during the observation of sil.
Meanwhile, as of Monday CaFFE has stated they have received a total of 378 complaints to which includes 267 from Moneragala and 93 from Badulla. However the figures released by the Police Spokesman’s office were comparatively lower as they claim that only a mere 56 complaints concerning election law violations and election-related violence has been reported to the Police. The Police Spokesman has stated that they have made 40 arrests so far with concerning to the complaints received on election law violations.
CaFFE noted that the JVP is the the most affected by the violence in the Uva province.
Open Letter To The Uva Voter; Uva Elections To Prove If ‘UNP’ Brand Is Damaged Beyond Repairs Or Not
By Vishwamithra1984 -
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” ~T. S. Eliot
In a column, dated July 26, 2011, published in a worldwide website this writer wrote thus:
“A people battered for more than a quarter century by unspeakable sufferings, left in the lurch by their own Colombo elites and derided by the Southern brethren of Mahawansa mindset, held fast; this time they decided to be the deceivers and dealt the King and the Prince a devastating blow. The sale that the Rajapaksas tried to consummate did not materialize, not because of buyer’s remorse, but because the buyer in fact turned out to be the seller, a seller of a different kind of merchandise to the international community.They showed the value of the age old cliché-“buyer beware”, and the Northern voter was different. The feelings and utter scorn pent up for three decades were given vent to and out of 23 local bodies 20 in the North turned towards the leading Tamil party as their overwhelming choice. Only 3 were secured by the UPFA, ironically all three local bodies are not part of mainland Jaffna-islands of Kaytes, Delft and Velanai (in Kaytes)- adding fuel to the rumor that the votes were manipulated while in transit via helicopters. So much for free and fair elections!In Vavuniya UPFA lost 35% -55%, in Mannar 39% – 59%, in Kilinochchi where Prince Namal was resident for weeks, UPFA lost 30% – 68% while in Jaffna the government lost 26% – 71% and in Mulativu they were clobbered 17% – 82% (statistics taken from Ada Derana).
