Uva PC, Vavuniya UC, Jaffna MC:

Polls today

Uditha Kumarasinghe

Nearly 875,456 voters will cast their votes today at 814 polling stations established in 20 electorates of the Uva Province to elect 32 members to the Uva Provincial Council while 125,043 registered voters in 88 polling stations established in Jaffna and Vanuniya will cast their votes to elect 34 representatives to the Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council respectively.

This is going to be the first time that Provincial Council elections for the Uva Province and Local Government elections for the Jaffna MC and Vavuniya UC are held after the country was fully liberated from the clutches of LTTE terrorism by enabling the people to exercise their franchise freely.

According to the Election Commissioner’s Department 432 candidates from 14 political parties and four Independent Groups are contesting from the Badulla district while 168 candidates from nine political parties and three Independent Groups are contesting from the Moneragala district for today’s Uva Provincial Council election. The UPFA and the UNP are the two main political parties vying for power in the Provincial Council.

The UPFA had recorded a significant victory at the previous Uva Provincial Council Election held on 12-07-2004.

The UPFA had obtained 169197 votes and captured 21 seats while the UNP had received 119171 votes winning 12 seats.

Meanwhile, 174 candidates from four political parties and two independent groups will contest the Jaffna Municipal Council election while135 candidates from six political parties and three independent groups would enter the fray at the Vavuniya Urban Council election.

The polls will be conducted in 70 polling Stations in Jaffna and 18 Polling Stations in Vavuniya to elect 23 candidates to Jaffna MC and 11 members to Vavuniya UC respectively.

The number of eligible voters totaling 875,456 will cast their ballots at 814 polling centres in Badulla and Moneragala districts today. Of the total number of voters, the Badulla district records the highest number of 574,814 voters while Moneragala records 300,642 voters. The highest number of 21 members are to be elected to the Uva Province from Badulla district while 11 members will be elected from Moneragala district.

The elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council are being held after a lapse of about a decade. Terrorist activities had caused a serious negative impact for the conduct of elections in Jaffna and Vavuniya.

In the case of Jaffna Municipal Council, a number of former Mayors have been assassinated by the terrorists. The last Local Government election for the Vavuniya UC has been held in March,1994. The Vavuniya UC had been dissolved in 1999. Although nominations had been called on two occasions to elect members to the Vavuniya UC, the elections could not be held due to terrorist activities.

Therefore, a valuable opportunity has been created for the people to elect their representatives due to the Government being able to eradicate terrorism from Sri Lankan soil.

According to the estimated figures, there are 100,417 registered voters in Jaffna and 24,626 voters in Vavuniya. The UPFA which submitted its nomination list for the Jaffna Municipal Council has decided to grant more opportunities in their nominations list to the EPDP.

According to Government sources, all arrangements have been finalised to conduct a free and fair election to the Uva Provincial Council and Jaffna MC and Vavuniya UC. Special security arrangements are in place to ensure a violence free election and maintain law and order on the request of the Elections Commissioner.