Battti Election : 1000 Rs per Ballot Paper !

Bonanza for Batti winners 2 million per victor as an elated Govt. spreads ‘Gama Neguma” to Batti;

TMVP members with 61 seats to secure Rs. 122 m

 UNP rejects results; SLMC alleges state terror; JVP, JHU welcome outcome

Ballot papers sold at Rs.1000, Over 100,000 snub election

In what appeared to be a mega election bonanza, the government has decided to grant a sum of Rs. 2 million for each local council member who secured victory in the controversial Batticaloa Local Authorities Elections, held on Monday. Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena announced the bonanza, which he claimed will be utilised by the Batticaloa local council members to develop their respective areas. “The government started many projects in Batticaloa under Gama Neguma. The government had to get involved directly as there was no authority in the district needed to handle such work. But now that there are democratically elected local council members we can carry out the government mooted development projects through them. That is why we have decided to allocate each member with two million Rupees each,” Abeywardena added. Through this scheme the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), which secured a total of 61 seats out of the 101 seats, will receive Rs. 122 million. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), which came in second with 15 seats, will receive Rs. 30 million. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which won seven seats, will receive Rs. 14 million, while the other parties and Independent Groups which secured seats in the election will also be granted Rs. 2 million respectively. The controversial arms carrying Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) swept the boards at the much hyped eastern polls, securing power in eight of the nine local bodies at elections. TMVP secured victory in the Eravurpattu Pradeshiya Sabha, Koralepattu Pradshiya Sabha, Koralepattu North Pradshiya Sabha, Manmunai South & Eruvilpattu Pradeshiya Sabha, Manmunaipattu Pradeshiya Sabha, Manmunai West Pradeshiya Sabha, Manmunai South West Pradeshiya Sabha and the Porativupattu Pradeshiya Sabha. The United People’s Freedom Alliance however won the Batticaloa Municipal Council, securing 11 seats against the six seats won by Independent Group I. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Eelavar Democratic Front secured one seat each in the Municipal Council. Over 800 candidates contested Monday’s election which was held after a lapse of nearly 14 years. Although a total number of 270, 473 voters were registered, a poor turnout was witnessed despite the hype generated from government quarters. According to sources only 161, 749 cast their votes. A total of 108,724 voters appeared to have abstained from voting while 19,772 votes were rejected. The total number of valid votes amounted to 141, 977 which made up almost half of the total number of registered voters. Monday’s election however continued to be marred by controversy. Despite the overwhelming victory secured by the TMVP, with the main opposition, United National Party (UNP) rejected the election results and termed it a ‘façade to fool Sri Lankans and the international community.’ UNP MP Lakshman Kiriella told a news conference, “We refuse to accept the outcome of this election. The government is saying that they are eradicating terrorism. They have only removed one set of terrorists and established another group. This time the government worked with the TMVP to rig the election. They did the same thing with the help of the LTTE to win the Presidential election in 2005,” he said. UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardene alleged that the government has been funding the TMVP for months. He added that the TMVP used the money to influence the voters. “Ballot papers were reported to be sold at Rs, 1000 each in some areas. How did the TMVP get the funds to do this? It was the government who has been giving them millions of rupees to carry out such activities,” he said. SLMC General Secretary M T Hassan Ali charged that several Cabinet Ministers worked with the TMVP to intimidate the people and prevent them from voting. “In certain areas people did not go for voting. Weeks before the elections the TMVP carried out a systematic terror campaign, so the final outcome is the low voter turnout,” he charged. He added that the heavy Police and STF presence contributed to the atmosphere of terror and intimidation. SLMC General Secretary added that the Police provided support to several cabinet ministers. “It is true that there was lot of Police. STF officers were stationed in Batticaloa. But in many occasions they were with several Cabinet Ministers. That gave the residents of these areas an impression that they were there to protect the ministers,” he said. He added that the Batticaloa Police did not accept complaints that were lodged. “The TMVP attacked a security officer of one of our contestants, but when he went to lodge a complaint the OIC did not accept it. We had to call the DIG Elections and lodge the complaint through him. So how can anyone say this was a free and fair election,” Hassan Ali querried? Meanwhile Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) claimed that the Batticaloa elections were a victory for the Democratic process. He added that it was the UNP that acted as an enemy of democracy by not participating at the elections. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake told The Bottom Line that the Eastern Election was held under reasonable conditions. “The election was held under reasonable conditions though armed groups contested the polls. We must be grateful for the Sri Lankan forces for creating such an environment. The election provided the opportunity for people in those areas to elect their representatives and enter into a democratic path,” he said. The Bottom Line witnessed a large number of elderly and educated people spoil their votes due to sheer frustration. They said that they did not have any desire to exercise their voting rights due to the manner in which the elections were conducted. “We have not got the party of our choice to exercise our franchise. We do not want to waste our votes by casting to groups that know nothing of politics and local administration,” they said. Complaints were also lodged by elderly people who had lost their national identity cards. They however could not obtain temporary cards which were sanctioned and issued by the Grama Niladharis. They said they had lost their identity cards due to the war and tsunami. They added that they did not have the wherewithal to take photographs of them to get temporary IDs, which were sanctioned by the respective Grama Niladharis. They said when they went to the polls with the special identity cards issued to them by the President of the country. According to them these ID’s had been rejected. Meanwhile a Muslim Cabinet minister from Batticaloa came under severe criticism for allegedly violating all election procedures and norms, according to people of the area. The minister, eye witnesses said, had even slapped a police officer in public and further threatened to remove his uniform. The police officer M. Rafeek was assigned by the government to provide protection to one of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) candidates M. Ameen. The police officer, according to sources, had gone to the Valaichenai Police Station to lodge his complaint. His complaint had been turned down by the Valaichenai OIC.

Source : The Nation.