Five councillors lose their posts

[TamilNet, Friday, 03 July 1998, 23:59 GMT]
The Commissioner of Elections, Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake informed five members of the Chavakachcheri Pradeshiya Sabah that they will cease to hold office, having failed to take their oaths in the three months after the completion of the local government elections, said sources in Jaffna.

Four of the defaulters are members of the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) and one is a member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO).

The elections were held in January 1998. Though the stipulated time period for taking oaths is three months, the Commissioner of Elections has acted on the matter only after five months.

Members of the EPDP and TELO refused to take oaths stating that the Sri Lankan government had not allocated sufficient funds for development work by the local councils of the Jaffna District and a part of the Kilinochchi District, to which elections were held.

Though agencies of the Sri Lanka Government (SLG) did subsequently allocate some money for development projects as well as for the running of the councils, members of these parties did not take oaths.

The reluctance of the councillors to take oaths became greater after the Mayor of Jaffna, Sarojini Yogeswaran, was shot dead by unidentified youths, who the police say were members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

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