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.