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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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Politics |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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All council elections on same day? By E. Weerapperuma The North Western Provincial Election is scheduled to be held on Saturday, April 24 and the attention of the government has been drawn to hold the elections in the rest of the island on the same day instead of holding them on separate dates. Terms of office of the Central Provincial Council and Sabaragamuwa come to an end on Friday, April 23, Uva Provincial Council on Monday, April 26. Provincial Councils in the Western Province and the North Central Province on May 06. As the Southern Provincial Council term ends only on June 08, steps have been taken to request the Chief Minister to dissolve same on an early date so that elections could be held along with others. North Western Provincial Council election on Saturday, April 24 will elect 50 members from Kurunegala and Puttalam districts. This is the first time that an election will be held on a Saturday. Postal votes will close on Monday, April 19, which began on Friday, April 16. According to the Department of Elections 30,000 government servants have applied for postal votes. According to the Election Commissioner's Department 13 recognised political parties and seven independent groups have submitted their nominations, who will vie for 50 seats in the NWP Council is 729. Recognised political parties fielding candidates include UNP, UPFA, SMSWBP, SLMC, NDF, SLPF, NVP, Sri Lanka Jathika Pakshaya, Sri Lanka Muslim Kachchi, RJP, Eksath Lalith Peramuna, Eksath Muslim Janatha Sandanaya and Sinhala Maha Sabhawa. While there is only one independent group for Kurunegala district led by V. W. P. Mendis, there are six groups from Puttalam. Well over 1,539,539 are eligible to vote to elect 34 members from Kurunegala and 16 from Puttalam. Two sets of nomination papers, one by Eksath Muslim Janatha Peramuna led by A. J. M. Kaleel and the other by the United Socialist Party led by T. D. Tennakoon were rejected in Kurunegala. Eleven recognised political parties and one independent group are in the fray for 34 seats, in Puttalam with nine recognised political parties and six independent groups for 16 seats. PAFFREL, the civil organisation has called for the services of 3,000 as observers and have been advised to pay special attention to areas in Puttalam, Chilaw, Anamaduwa, Mawathagama and Wariyapola which are being prone to violence. |
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