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by Ranga Jayasuriya

There has been a marked increase in post-election violence over the previous General Election and the trend is still continuing, Executive Director of the People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL) Kingsly Rodrigo told yesterday at a press conference.

Eleven murders and 300 major incidents of post election violence were reported up to December 18, he said.

"This is a return to the situation after the 1977 General Election which saw the highest number of incidents of post - election violence. There were fewer incidents after the 1994 election", he said.

Commenting on the current situation,The Executive Director of the PAFFREL said 25 murders during the campaign and 24 murders on the polling day itself were reported. Districts which the election observers had identified as high risk areas and for which the additional security was requested from the Inspector General of Police - Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya, Anuradhapura, Kandy, Puttalam, Kegalle and Hambantota- witnessed a high intensity of violence, he said. Rodrigo accused the Police of not carrying out duties perfectly and the PA of misuse of the state properties.

Rodrigo claimed the disenfranchisement of 97,000 voters in Vanni and Batticoloa due to the closure of check points at the entrances to the Government controlled area was undemocratic. "Even if the check points were open, the majority of voters would not have crossed the border to vote as they did in the past elections. But, the closure of check points effectively disenfranchising them was flawed in principle", he said.

The PAFFREL hopes to release its final report on the General Election with special attention to post-election violence during the first /100 days of the new government by April next year.

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