East takes first step towards May 10 polls

Rasika Somarathna

COLOMBO: The handing in of nominations for the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council Election begins today with Returning Officers of each district in the Eastern Province accepting nominations from political parties and Independent Groups until noon on April 3, the closing date for nominations.

According to the Elections Department 982,721 voters are eligible to cast their ballot in the three districts namely Batticaloa (330,950), Ampara (490,308) and Trincomalee (242,463) in the elections scheduled for May 10.

Altogether a total number of 44 candidates would be in the fray, out of which 35 members would be chosen from the three districts, Batticaloa (11), Trincomalee (10) and Ampara (14). In addition two bonus seats too are on offer.

This is a unique occasion in the annals of Sri Lankan PC elections in that it is the first time a PC poll is being held for the de-merged East.

The East was de-merged from the North according to a ruling by the Supreme Court, after the JVP submitted a petition against the merger which was done in 1987 by the then Government under President J.R. Jayewardene.

All major political parties are expected to join the fray in the polls which comes close on the heels of the successfully concluded Local Government Election for Batticaloa.

Several mainstream parties including the UNP, TNA and JVP withdrew from the local polls in Batticaloa citing security concerns, which ultimately proved unfounded with the elections being deemed free and fair by all observers, with reported cases of violence being at an all time low.

Most political parties are yet to finalise their nominations, with hectic bargaining taking place in a bid to forge alliances to grab power in this most important province which will go to the polls for the first time after its liberation from the clutches of the LTTE.

One of the key parties in the contest, the SLMC has finally decided to contest alone, with discussions to form an alliance with several parties ending in a deadlock, according to spokesman Hassen Ali.

Ali told the Daily News yesterday that discussions with the UNP, UPFA and other Muslim parties to forge an alliance had failed with the decision to go solo expected to be ratified by its High Command yesterday evening.

The SLMC General Secretary said the idea of a joint Muslim alliance, considering the fact that Muslims are the dominant community in the East, had failed even in the face of the Chief Minister post being offered to other factions.

Meanwhile the UNP working committee on Tuesday formally approved the decision to contest the polls with the JVP too joining the fray as a single political entity along with the EPDP.

Meanwhile the TMVP which swept the board in the concluded local poll in Batticaloa has decided to team up with the UPFA which has the backing of a number of other parties who are stakeholders in the Government.

The TULF meanwhile has decided to align with the EPRLF (Padmanabha faction) and PLOTE with only the TNA remaining undecided with inside sources claiming a possible withdrawal due to pressure from LTTE.

Some consider this as a litmus test for the Government which has embarked on a mega development drive to uplift the province with an allocation of Rs.6,000 million, after taking steps to rid the East of the LTTE presence.