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There is an identity crisis but its not in the United National Party, surprise surprise, neither is it in the JVP or the UPFA.

The question of using a national identity card at the forthcoming polls has not been resolved yet, but it appears now that both major parties are not for making such a identity card mandatory unless others are qualifying stipulations. For example: Those who do not have polling cards need to have national identity cards, and alternatives to national identity cards may be considered.

Not having an identity
Is no indemnity
Against having to vote
For the absurdity
Of people with a propensity
Of for leaving your garbage
To rot almost in its entirety

That is only a ditty, but not for Arumugam Thondaman. He is against identify cards with such a vengeance that it is possible he will generate heat if he continues to ponder that question - like so much compost forming in a unattended garbage heap.

The LTTE is getting down to political work just about the time that all others are getting down to political work in the form of election campaigning. The army laid down 28 conditions for the Liberation Tigers to do its kind of political work.

The conditionalities are that the LTTE will not raise its flag, and conduct student demonstrations etc as a part of the political work. It's the LTTE that removed its political offices anyway, crying paramilitaries. It means that the LTTE would cry "you are trying to amend the ceasefire" by imposing conditional ties.

The army will say its not an amendment the LTTE took off to the Vanni after closing political offices, to come back-in, it has to abide by the old ceasefire agreement, which gives the army the prerogative for entry into government controlled areas.

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is a permanent attitude," said Martin Luther kind. This is the army's complaint too. Forgiving the LTTE is becoming a permanent attitude. UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was a dejected man on Friday (24) being his 57th birthday.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the application filed by his party against the rejection of the UNP nomination list to the Colombo Municipal Council that morning. Colombo Central UNP Parliamentarian, Mohamed Maharoof was ready to light crackers to the value of rupees half a million, in the event court issued its ruling in favour of the UNP.

Supporters of Maharoof were reported to have transported the pack of crackers to Hultsdorp thrice that week with the understanding that the order would me made at anytime. The UNP now holds both Maharoof and Milinda Moragoda responsible for this major set back as Maharoof was the person who had sent an under-aged youth to be included in the list at the eleventh hour. That was the cause for the chaos.

In addition, the Moragoda Maharoof combine is accused of deleting T. M. Sanghadasa's name with the help of their aides using 'tipex'. Wickremesinghe initiated a two member probe into the incident. But, did not disclose the findings of that report. He said it would be done after the court issues its ruling on the objections filed by the party. The court case is now over.

The membership of the UNP on Friday pressurised Wickremesinghe to make public the two member report and its findings. Following the court ruling on Friday, the UNP is now back in square one. It has lost the momentum to face the local polls. In fighting appeared to be at its peak with Wickremesinghe being pressurised to take action against the culprits responsible for the set back.

Colombo Central was once described as the stronghold of the UNP. It was the late Premadasa and Jabir A. Cader who made it the bastion of the UNP. After the exit of Premadasa and the subsequent resignation of Sirisena Cooray, this UNP stronghold taken over by Maharoof has being hanging on a thread. Communal politics within the UNP in this bastion was quite transparent.

Maharoof himself was eight in the list as per statistics of the UNP Colombo District list at the last parliamentary election. He lost over 30,000 preferences in 2004 when compared to his figure in 2002.

He was placed fourth in 2002. The Colombo Central electorate of the UNP is now a hot bed with death threats being hurled at each other.

On Tuesday, Maharoof had to seek police protection when he was threatened with death from an under world element identified as Kitsiri, son of yesteryear underworld king pin, Choppe. Kitsiri, is a resident of Suduwella in Colombo Central who entered UNP politics through his mentor Sirisena Cooray when the latter was a big wig in the party under Premadasa. Cooray entered UNP politics through the Suduwella Municipal Ward under the guidance of Premadasa.

After exit of Cooray from the UNP, a decade ago, Kitsiri worked with Maharoof till the nomination day of this local government election. Kitsiri had worked hard for Maharoof at all elections to ensure victory for Maharoof.

Though being an under world figure, Kitsiri was very much interested to enter UNP politics through the Municipal Council. In the bid to make his dream a reality, he urged Maharoof to nominate him for the Suduwella Ward. Sirisena Cooray too backed the idea. On the morning of handing over nominations, Kitsiri learnt that Maharoof had deliberately committed his name from the list. An angered Kitsiri decided to take on Maharoof.

The battle heightened and on Monday night he managed to get Maharoof on line. Kitsiri is reported to have used 'foul' language on Maharoof. On Tuesday morning, Maharoof instructed his Co-ordinating Secretary, Wijepala (Whose name was inserted after tipexing Sanghadasa's name from the list) to make a complaint at Grandpass Police about the alleged death threat from Kitsiri.

Wijepala in his complaint on behalf of Maharoof had told the Police that Kitsiri threatened to kill Maharoof before the election day.

While was Wijepala making the complaint at Grandpass police, Kitsiri received a call on his mobile that Maharoof had sent Wijepala to lodge a complaint. The second call came within minutes that the Grandpass mobile vehicle was heading to his house to convey a message.

Within ten minutes of Wijepala's complaint, the Police mobile reached Kitsiri's house requested him to be present at the Grandpass police station at 5.00 p.m. on the same day. When Kitsiri went there on time, Maharoof's party failed to appear on time.

It was then put off for the following day at 10.00 a.m. Kitsiri who arrived on time told the inquiry that Maharoof promised him to be nominated to Suduwella and got 'much' done from him over the years but had finally played him out.

He also confessed that when Maharoof wanted to rid Mohamed Minzar from the Post of Private Secretary to Maharoof last year, Maharoof had lured Kitsiri to lodge a complaint at the Grandpass Police to effect that Minzar had underworld connection and had plotted to kill Kitsiri. In order to please Maharoof, Kitsiri had made such a complaint against Minzar, the confession stated. Maharoof and Minzar had fallen apart over a vehicle issue last year.

Following, the Court order dismissing the UNP application on Friday, Kitsiri rushed to the Maradana Police to complain that Maharoof supporters have issued death threats on him. As the verdict was announced in court on Friday, Maharoof who was at his Grandpass office hurriedly rushed to his Borella residence.

Before boarding the vehicle he instructed his aides to send a message to Hultsdorp to bury the crackers without lighting them. The court order came as a shock to him. Maharoof over the week gone by was confident that the UNP would win the case.

The momentum of the UNP campaign in Colombo is now lost. Adding insult to injury, Mayor Prasanna Gunewardene this week shifted camp to support UPFA candidate, Vasudeva Nanayakkara.

Gunewardene is an Architect and a Town Planner by profession. He was introduced to politics by the UNP to make Colombo a model city. However, during the initial two years of his Mayoralty, he managed to do some work But, since the majority of the UNP councillors hailed from Colombo Central, he faced problems over the rift between Maharoof and Deputy Mayor , Azath Sally. Maharoof had direct control on the councillors from Colombo Central.

Therefore, Sally was unable to chair a single meeting in the absence of Gunewardene due to lack of quorum. As Maharoof took control of the UNP councillors, Gunewardene played a low profile. Milinda Moragoda, a white collared politician joined Maharoof to seek preferences in the large electorate of the Colombo Central. The Moragda-Maharoof combine made matters difficult for Gunewardene as Mayor.

The re-introduction of Sirisena Cooray to contest as Mayoral candidate too hurt Gunewardene. Both Moragoda and Maharoof did not inform Gunewardene of their move to bring in Cooray. It is learnt that Maharoof had proposed that he would work out a plan to make Gunewardene, Chief organiser for Colombo North as Lilantha Perera faced charges before court on a galvanise sheet fraud under Indian donations. Gunewardene questions as to what authority Maharoof had to give such an assurance.

Lilantha Perera claims that there was similar galvanised sheet fraud in Colombo Central where an Indian galvanised sheet donation for the poor in Colombo Central had been sold to a trader at Wattala through a UNP organiser in Mutwal identified as Pushpanandan, a close associate of Maharoof. Though the goods were valued over Rs. two million, the consignment had been sold for Rs. 1.5 million. The police have failed to apprehend Pushpanandan so far. Instead an estate labourer who had no involvement had been arrested and remanded.

Latest information revealed that the estate labourer who had been in remand for six months had been released on bail last month. Colombo Central UNP supporters claim that political influence in Colombo Central had succeeded in tampering with investigations and the suspects.

They allege that the former Private Secretary of Maharoof, identified as Mohamed Minzar had played a very 'influential role' in that investigation. Therefore, they have urged President Mahinda Rajapakse through a letter to order a fresh inquiry into the galvanised sheet scandal in Colombo Central. These sheets arrived at Colombo Central with the "Not for Sale" marking engraved in India.

But at the time these sheets were taken into custody at a store in Wattala, police had arrested two suspects who were in the act of removing the 'not for sale' marking.

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