Political parties finalize nomination lists for local polls

[TamilNet, Monday, 06 February 2006, 11:51 GMT]
The Writ Application filed by the Peoples Action for the Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL), a poll monitoring body in Sri Lanka, seeking the Court of Appeal to postpone the scheduled local government election for a period of six months is to be taken up for inquiry Monday (February 6) while the leaders of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), main constituent of the ruling party and its allies, Sri Lanka Communist Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party and few small parties are to finalize their deal at a meeting scheduled to be held on the same day at Temple Trees presided by President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse, political sources said.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) which supported President Mahinda Rajapakse at the last presidential poll held on November 17 last year will not participate in Tuesday meeting amid speculation that the party leadership has almost decided to go it alone at the forthcoming local government elections. The JVP decision came in the wake of the negotiations between it and the SLFP leadership broke down on Friday evening over the number of candidates to be allocated to each party despite concerted efforts by President Mahinda Rajapakse to forge an electoral pact between the SLFP led People Alliance (PA) and the JVP, media sources in Colombo said.

In the meantime Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake, Commissioner of Elections Sunday held discussion with his District Returning Officers who are Government Agents of the twenty five administrative districts to finalize all arrangements to accept nomination from registered political parties and independent groups from February 9 onwards till noon on February 16 to contest 333 local government institutions in the island, department sources said.

The PAFFREL in its writ application has sought the Court of Appeal to order the Election Commissioner to postpone the local polls for six months and to hold the poll on the revised Voters' Register for the 2005 and not on Voters' Register-2004 which would deprive about three hundred and fifty thousand persons of their franchise, legal sources said.

However President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse has instructed the Commissioner of Elections to make arrangements to hold the poll as scheduled in March on 2004 Voters Register, sources said.