All set for July 23 polls

Ridma Dissanayake

All arrangements are in place to hold the Local Government elections on July 23 for the remaining 65 LG bodies, UPFA General Secretary and Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayantha said.

He said certain Opposition political parties have held press briefings where they have tried to paint a bad image about the political campaign in the Jaffna district. He denied any conflict situation, adding that anybody was free to engage in their political campaigns without interruption.

Addressing a press briefing at the Information Department yesterday, the minister said Opposition political parties were only concentrating on political campaigns in Jaffna, although Local Government elections were going to be held in the Colombo district as well.

“There is a suspicion whether they are trying to provide ammunition to the Tamil diaspora campaign and add fuel to the Darusman Report and the anti-Lankan stand by other foreign influences,” the minister said.

“There is vast development in the Northern Province under the Uthuru Wasanthaya development programme and there are more peaceful conditions than in the Southern province. ‘All political parties have space to continue their political campaigns in a free manner and the Police or any other security force will not be involved in election campaigns,” he added.

Minister Premajayantha urged political parties not to make baseless allegations without assessing the facts.