Open invitation to parties to contest under UPFA banner

Uditha KUMARASINGHE

COLOMBO: SLFP General Secretary Minister Maithripala Sirisena yesterday made an open invitation to all political parties willing to agree upon the policies of the UPFA to contest the forthcoming Eastern Province Provincial Council Elections under the UPFA banner.

“Even any armed group ready to lay down their weapons and come to the democratic process are welcome to enter mainstream politics,” the Minister told the weekly Cabinet press briefing yesterday.

The Minister said the Government today has political resistance coming only from the UNP and the LTTE. The Government’s sole intention is to restore democracy within the country. The Government intends to conduct the Provincial Council Election in the Eastern Province as soon as possible.

The Election Commissioner will announce the dates for the election before the end of this month, he said.

The SLFP led UPFA will contest the Provincial Council Election under the UPFA banner. A Nomination Board was appointed for the election at the SLFP Central Committee meeting held on Wednesday.

Senior Vice President of the SLFP Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva was appointed Chairman of this Nomination Board while UPFA General Secretary Minister Susil Premajayanth and MP Basil Rajapaksa were appointed as members of this board. They will also act as the members of the Election Monitoring Committee.

In addition, Ministers Sirisena, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, W.D.J. Seneviratne and Chief Ministers Berty Premalal Dissanayake and Vijith Vijithamuni Zoysa were appointed committee members.

Minister Sirisena categorically denied allegations made by the UNP against the Government regarding the recently concluded Local Government Elections in the Eastern Province.

“The UNP accused the Government of plundering votes of the people in the East. However, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has forgotten how the UNP looted the people’s votes at various elections conducted from 1977 to 1994. The UNP did not allow even EPRLF Leader Vardharajah Perumal who was elected as the North East Chief Minister to continue in office.

The Minister said people can still remember how the UNP conducted the 1987 Provincial Council Election.

At this election, 1,200 ballot boxes were found empty in the Eastern Province. The UNP released bogus elections results. Government officials and people are ready to give even evidence regarding these poll rigging committed by the UNP.

“The UNP knew that they could not win the Local Government Elections in the East. Therefore they did not contest the election.This clearly indicates the loss of ground of the UNP in the areas of Eastern Province.”

After Armed Forces captured the Eastern Province, the Government implemented a number of development programmes to change the people’s lives. The Government commenced resettlement and welfare activities in those areas. As a result people were able to cast their vote in a more democratic manner. Not even a single incident of election related violence was reported during the Local Government Election. This can be described as a historic occasion, he said.

According to the Minister, when Wickremesinghe’s Government came to power in 2001, 63 SLFP supporters were killed while over 10,000 SLFP ers were arrested.

Over 1,700 SLFPers became disabled due to assaults. In addition, personal property and houses belonging to nearly 480 SLFP supporters were completely destroyed. When Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed duties as the President in 2005, not even a single case of harassment was reported against any political opponents, he said.

“If Ranil Wickremesinghe became the country’s President in 2005, SLFPers would have had to suffer even a worse fate than they were subjected to in 2001. As the Government and the SLFP, we categorically deny these allegations made by the UNP which has long history of anti- democratic acts.”

The Minister said the Government also wished to commend the Armed Forces, Government officials and the people who extended their fullest cooperation to conduct a peaceful election in the Eastern Province.