Moderate Tamil oppose polls in troubled northern regions

Moderate Tamil oppose polls in troubled northern regions

COLOMBO (AFP): Sri Lanka's minority Tamil parties yesterday
opposed government moves to stage local elections in the island's
battle-scarred northern regions for the first time in 13 years.

The pro-government Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) said
the elections due anytime between January and February next year
must not go ahead because moderate politicians were not allowed
to campaign in the area.

The TULF, which has five members in the 225-member national
assembly and supports the coalition government of President
Chandrika Kumaratunga, said they felt that free and fair voting
cannot take place in the north.

"No democratic political party has been able to engage in any
political activity (in the north) up to date," the TULF said in a
statement. "We urge the government not to hold local government
elections in the north."

Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said on Wednesday
that nominations will open on Dec. 11 to elect members to 27
municipal, urban and village councils in four districts where
Tamils are concentrated.

The separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were
dominating large parts of the northern province but the area
under their control was reduced considerably following military
operations since last year.

Elections chief Dissanayake said the main council up for grabs
will be the Jaffna municipality, the main local authority in the
north of the country. Tamil Tiger guerrillas were driven out of
the area last year.

"These will be the first local elections in the areas since
1983," Dissanayake said. He said balloting that was to be held in
1987 had been postponed since then because of security
considerations.

Under election laws, the latest vote must be conducted between
the end of January and early February and the exact date is
expected to be announced on Dec. 17.

The government has said that it wants a local Tamil leadership
to emerge in Jaffna to take over the rehabilitation of the
embattled region where most civilian duties are now supervised by
the military.

Although the government made the surprise announcement of the
vote in the north on Wednesday, local council elections in the
rest of the country have been postponed three times till April
next year.

The fighting between government forces and the LTTE has
prevented voting in the north-east of the country where the two
million Tamil community is concentrated.

However, the government held controversial parliamentary and
presidential elections in the island's north in 1994 but the
turnout was negligible with some members getting elected with as
little as five votes.

The LTTE has consistently opposed elections in the island's
north-east where they are fighting to establish an independent
Tamil homeland. More than 50,000 people have died in bitter
fighting in the past 24 years.