Election Commissioner suspends Amparai local polls

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 February 2004, 11:48 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections, Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake, has instructed election officials in the eastern province to suspend all steps to hold polls to then seven local authorities in the Amparai administrative district, which is scheduled to be held on February 21 until further notice, government sources said.

The Elections Commissioner issued the suspension order following the direction of the Sri Lanka's Supreme Court to submit his opinion on holding local elections to local authorities in the Muslim dominated eastern district on the voters' register of 2002 instead of 2000 register on February 17, legal sources said.

The Supreme Court last week held an inquiry into the Fundamental Rights application by four Muslim voters of Amparai district seeking the court to order the Election Commissioner to hold the local elections in the district on the voters' register of 2002, legal sources said.

The petitioners who cited the Elections Commissioner and three others as respondents in the suit have stated fundamental rights of more than ten thousand new voters would be violated if the said polls were held on the 2000 voters' register, legal sources said.