CWC to announce its stand on presidential election

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 October 2005, 04:16 GMT]
The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), leading political party in the hill country representing upcountry Tamils is to officially announce its position in the forthcoming presidential election Wednesday morning at a media briefing held at Trans Asia Hotel, Colombo. The CWC is a constituent of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government.
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CWC to support Wickremasinghe for President

[TamilNet, Monday, 03 October 2005, 12:40 GMT]
The decision of the Ceylon Workers Congress led by Arumugam Thondaman to support the Presidential candidate of the UNP, Ranil Wickremasinghe, is almost conclusive, informed sources said.
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UNP to hold 120 rallies after nomination day

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2005, 12:30 GMT]
The United National Party (UNP) is planning to hold one hundred and twenty propaganda in support of its presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe between November 7 and November 15, two days ahead of the presidential poll scheduled to be held on November 17. The first meeting is be held in Kandy on November 8, UNP Deputy general Secretary Mr.Tissa Attanayake said.


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Peace through devolution, federal framework, says Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Friday, 30 September 2005, 08:16 GMT]
Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of Sri Lanka's opposition United National Party, in a letter to Sri Lanka's President Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga on Thursday emphasised that the solution to the national problem lay on a Federal structure to the war-torn North-East. The Presidential candidate of the UNP has invited her to join hands with him in finding a lasting solution to the national problem. Attaching a copy of the UNP manifesto, he has requested for a meeting with her to search for a common stand on which the two leading political parties, the UNP and SLFP could get together to structure a common plan to handle the problem.
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UNP manifesto promises to End Separatism

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 September 2005, 10:53 GMT]
Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe, United National Party (UNP) presidential candidate and the Opposition Leader Tuesday morning officially released his forty-page manifesto for the forthcoming presidential poll at an event held at the UNP headquarters Sri Kotha with the participation of party senior leaders including Mr.Karu Jayasuriya, and Mr.Malik Samarawickrema, sources said.


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DLF split on support to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 September 2005, 02:57 GMT]
Senior member of Democratic Left Front (DLF), Professor Kumar David, Friday dissociated himself from a press release issued by Secretary of DLF, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, and party's National Organizer, Quintus Liyanage, that expressed support to Sri Lanka's Presidential candidate Rajapakse in the forthcoming presidential elections.
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Expect a new war – newspaper

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 September 2005, 02:06 GMT]
Political events in Sri Lanka are overtaking the international efforts to create a lasting peace and it is only a matter of time before the island’s ascending Sinhala nationalist forces trigger a new war, the Tamil Guardian newspaper argued in its editorial this week. “If Sri Lanka is so preoccupied by dubious questions of [LTTE gaining] legitimacy that it is prepared to allow the disintegration of the ceasefire, what hope is there for negotiations on a political solution?” the English language Diaspora publication asked.


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Posters of aspiring Sri Lanka Presidents to be removed

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 11:08 GMT]
After the announcement of the date for the Presidential polls on the 17th November, the polls chief has ordered the police Monday to remove all cutouts, and posters which are illegal according to the election laws in Sri Lanka, sources in Colombo said. According to the department of Elections during the period of elections the police force will get the instructions from the polls chief to pave way for a free and fair polls.
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SL Presidential elections to be held on November 17

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 September 2005, 12:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Presidential election is fixed for 17th November, 2005. The announcement was made by the Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake, Monday. The nominations will be accepted before the 7th of October. In the forthcoming elections, 13.3 million Sri Lankans will be eligible to vote, as reported by the elections department. There will be 60,000 policemen on duty, island-wide. The exercise will cost Rs. 90 million.


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Peace approach should transcend party politics- paper

[TamilNet, Thursday, 15 September 2005, 16:59 GMT]
"The peace process requires an approach that transcends narrow and warped ambitions of party politics. The two Presidential candiates, Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition leader Ranil Wickramesinghe, must refrain from making the peace process an issue at the forthcoming Presidential elections," said an editorial of Thinakkural, a popular Tamil daily in its Thursday edition.


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Peace process faces difficult future - paper

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 September 2005, 10:13 GMT]
Reflecting growing anxieties amongst Sri Lanka’s Tamils in the wake of the Sinhala nationalist forces gathering behind Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, the Tamil Guardian newspaper warned this week that the peace process “will face an ever more uncompromising Sinhala bloc.” The island’s political developments, moreover, reflect the polarised sentiments amongst the island’s communities, the English-language paper’s editorial column argued.
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JVP, SLFP alliance spells disaster for Sri Lanka - Wickremesinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 06 September 2005, 11:05 GMT]
Leader of Sri Lanka's opposition and the presidential candidate of the United National Party (UNP), Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Tuesday warned that to prevent Sri Lanka plunging into chaos NorthEast crisis need to be addressed and solved urgently. The alliance between the SLFP and the JVP on Sri Lanka's presidency will exacerbate political and economical woes facing Sri Lanka, he said. "This alliance will isolate the country from the International community. The JVP is beating the war drums, and if there is another war it will bring disaster to Sri Lanka," Mr. Wickremesinghe warned.
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JVP announces conditional support to Rajapakse

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 September 2005, 07:20 GMT]
The Sinhala extreme nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna on Monday announced its conditional support to Sri Lankan PM and the presidential candidate Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse with twelve demands. The main demands put forward by the JVP were: nullify P-TOMS, commitment to unitary state, revise the February 2002 Cease Fire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and review the Norwegian role in the peace process. The JVP announced its conditional support to Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse Monday morning in a press conference held at National Library in Colombo. According to JVP, a "policy agreement" was already reached between Mr. Rajapakse and the JVP.
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UNP to hold 140 presidential election rallies

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 September 2005, 17:41 GMT]
Sri Lanka's main opposition, the United National Party (UNP) is to hold one hundred election rallies in support of its presidential candidate Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe. Twenty of the rallies will be held before the nomination date, party sources said.
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CWC to decide its stand on presidential election Monday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 September 2005, 17:23 GMT]
The politburo of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), a constituent of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government will meet Monday evening at its headquarters, 'Soumiyamoorthy Bawan' to decide its strategy in the forthcoming presidential election, party sources said.
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JVP, JHU to outline their strategy for Presidential election next week

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 August 2005, 14:51 GMT]
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), all monks' party, and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sinhala nationalist-cum-Marxist party, are to announce their decision during the first week of September whether to field their own candidates or to support one of the two main political parties in the forthcoming presidential election widely expected to be held in November second week, political sources said.
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SL presidential election dates to be announced next week

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 August 2005, 16:30 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Election Commissioner Mr.Dayananda Dissanayake Friday resumed discussions with his officials to prepare for the next presidential election, which is to be held before the end of this year according to the ruling of the Supreme Court delivered Friday morning. The Commissioner of Elections is expected to announce the dates of nomination and the polling before the end of August, commission sources said.
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Tamil man arrested for filming Wickramasinghe's office

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 11:33 GMT]
Security officials at Sri Lanka's Opposition Leaders Office in Colombo arrested a 47-year-old Tamil man Tuesday around 11:30 p.m. for filming Opposition Leader Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe's office located at Cambridge Place in Colombo, Police said.
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"Mass action against undemocratic extension of presidential term" - Wickramasinghe

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 09:22 GMT]
United National Party (UNP) leader and leader of the Sri Lanka's opposition, Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe, speaking at an election campaign held at Badulla Town Hall Monday warned against the moves to pressurize the election commissioner of Sri Lanka. Mr. Wickramasinghe resolved that his party will take the "masses to the streets" against Kumaratungas move to "stay in power a single day after the 22nd of December 2005." He hailed the success of UNP's recent "Peoples strength" showdown programme, claiming that the programme made his opponents to field their presidential candidate.
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SC begins inquiry into presidential controversy

[TamilNet, Monday, 22 August 2005, 06:10 GMT]
Sri Lanka's two main political parties, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the main opposition United National Party (UNP) are scheduled to inaugurate their presidential election campaigns this week in Colombo, expecting that the 5-member bench of the Supreme Court would decide in favor of such election should be held this year.
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