B'caloa reawakens

New hope for democracy:

by Dhaneshi Yatawara

[email protected]

Within the last few weeks Batticaloa started getting colourful. Marking its climax Batticaloa people will cast their votes at tomorrow's Local Government elections with new aspirations for a better future, in which democracy will reign.

Batticaloa and its people are starting to see the true colours of their power to elect their representatives democratically. This is truly a major leap for the people of the East. It is significant for it is happening after a long lapse of fourteen years.

The true meaning of liberation is coming in to sense. After Thoppigala, the last Tiger stronghold broke down with the untiring efforts of soldiers of the Army, the control of the area was transferred to the Special Task Force of the Police. Since then the Police elite force has been protecting the innocent people of the area from the Tiger terrorists.

The Police elite force plays a major role in bringing back normalcy to the area giving their fullest cooperation to the civil administration. The Police is taking over the protecting of the law and order of the area.

For 'the day' falling tomorrow (10th of March) 285 polling stations are set for 270,473 registered voters of the Batticaloa district.

For security of each polling booth five armed Police Constables are assigned. A Sub Inspector with four Police Constables will be assigned for the booths that would need more security, according to the assessment of the Police. Totally the Police force for the elections has a strength of 4200 Police officers out of which 1400 will be assigned at Counting centres.

According to the statistics available there is an estimated 11,000 internally displaced people as voters. 6300 people have forwarded applications to the Batticaloa Elections office out of which 1348 were accepted.

This 1348 people can vote from any polling booth close to their camp within the electorate.

A total of 6400 Government workers are assigned for election duties and 1800 of this are from out station areas. This was a request from the political parties.

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'People's voice must be properly heard.'

"Until now it is violent free. If we compare this to the elections held in the Southern parts of the island, violence is far, far less in Batticaloa. We strongly hope that there will be no mass scale twists on the election day. So far we did not see any trends for such.

People should be able to freely voice themselves. The Government and the Forces must ensure a free and fair election."

PLOTE has been actively in the political sphere in Batticaloa since the early 1980s. In 1994 the party contested in the last local elections as an independent group and for the elections in 2006 they gave nominations under their party name.

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'creating violence is not at all possible.'

The Police have set out a comprehensive security plan for the polling day-for polling booths and counting centres. People seems to be rather happy for being able to use their franchise.

It is not possible for anyone to attempt to create any disturbances, violences or threats on the election day. Amidst the tight security layout no one would even attempt to create a disturbing environment. The people will be totally free to practise their franchise rights.

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'Democratic rights must be safe guarded.'

At present the violent environment has improved. We carry on our election campaigns peacefully without any obstructions. We even have 40 - 45 women supporters in our party campaigns. Democratic rights of people must be safeguarded.

Hence, we are looking forward for a free and fair election. Resorting to threats is totally unacceptable. Unity among the Tamil community and protecting rights of other communities is essential. At the beginning we saw people were not so much enthusiastic about the elections.

Yet we were trying to raise their interest levels. We were able to carry on door to door campaigns without any obstacle. Comparative to elections in the Southern part of the island, I feel, in Batticaloa there is a comparatively none violent environment.

The efforts put in by the Police and the security forces have contributed a great deal to keep the law and order. We, as a party, looking forward for a generous victory. And we see some hope in it as well.

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'10th is the crucial day'

SLMC Secretary Hasan Ali

As for today everything is moving smoothly. March 10th would be the crucial day. There is a general fear among the people that most of the Tamil voters may not have a chance of using their franchise freely.

We can see now people are much more concerned than at the beginning. Our support group understands these situations. Up to now we were able to carry out our campaigns freely.

Some may try to disrupt the process. But Police has given escort to each of the competitors. Up to now all the election activities were moving smoothly. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress existed in the Eastern Theatre, particularly in Batticaloa since 1987.

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'In a democratic country elections are crucial'

I am glad to see the elections are taking place after several years, in our region. We heartily welcome the local elections in Batticaloa. In a democratic country elections are the deciding factor and this opportunity will enable the people to elect their representatives in a democratic manner.

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'People should come forward without fear'

All the faculties are accommodated for the coming elections.

The people should come forward that day without any fear and use their franchise power to select their representatives democratically.

Voting starts at 7.00 a.m. tomorrow and ends by 4 p.m. There will be a total of 26 counting centres - 22 normal counting centres, two centres for counting postal votes and two for counting IDP votes.

The Elections Commissioner has specially allocated the required number of staff for the smooth run of the elections. 4200 officers would be used on the 10th out of which 1400 will be deployed at counting centres.