Candidates file nominations today

by Sarath Malalasekera

Weeks of campaign fever and the political tempo precipitated by the Presidential elections will reach a peak today as candidates submit their nominations for the November 17 poll.

In all, 14 candidates had furnished their deposits at the Election Commissioner's office by the 12 noon deadline yesterday.

Nominations will be accepted by Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake starting from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The proceedings will be telecast live on Rupavahini.

All eyes will be on the two main contenders Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Large crowds of supporters are expected to throng the city today to cheer the duo.

Among the other prospective candidates are Victor Hettigoda De Silva Wijedasa (Eksath Lanka Podujana Party), Wije Dias (Socialist Equality Party), Shantha Dharmadwaja (National Alternative Front), Wimal Geeganage (Sri Lanka Jathika Peramuna), Siritunga Jayasuriya (Eksath Samajawadi Party), Chamil Jayaneththi (NSSP), Nelson Perera (SPE), Seinulabdeen Nasheer Ahamad (Muslim National Alliance), Anura Sarath de Silva (United Lalith Front) and Achala Ashoka Suraweera (Jathika Sangwardhena Peramuna).

All candidates who qualify will get airtime on Rupavahini and SLBC. They will also be allowed to have agents in each polling station.

Beginning today all election propaganda displays, including posters, billboards banners will be taboo. So will motorcades and vehicles plying with cut-outs of candidates.

Police have vowed to come down hard on violators to the extent of holding the organisers responsible for the acts of miscreants. Meanwhile the city of Colombo and its outskirts will come under a tight security blanket today amidst fears for the safety of the two main candidates.

Security arrangements on behalf of the Premier and Opposition Leader had been worked up to the tiniest detail while the Police will be assisted by the Special Task Force (STF) and the Army, Senior DIG Sirisena Herath told the Daily News yesterday.

"We have decided to enhance the security for the two main candidates as there is a terrorist threat to them," Police Election Secretariat DIG Gamini Navaratne said .

Security arrangements had been made on the direction of IGP Chandra Fernando who recently addressed all senior police officers at the Police headquarters in connection with the elections.

Over 6,000 Police and Army personnel will be on duty at today's nominations day in and around the Rajagiriya Elections Commissioner's Office, the Police Election secretariat said.

Parliament road, Kotte and Welikada police areas will be closed to the public from 8.00 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.

DIG Navaratne appealed to candidates to limit the number of supporters accompanying them to avoid any inconvenience to the public.

He has also appealed to all candidates and their main organisers to educate their supporters on the elections laws to avoid any incident that hamper the conduct of a free and fair election, the IGP said.

IGP Chandra Fernando told the "Daily News" yesterday afternoon that the Police will not hesitate to take action against any person or persons irrespective of their position who violate the elections laws.

The election laws will come into force from October 7, 2005 until the day after the conclusion of the poll, DIG Navaratne said.