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The people should have voted says Asian monitoring group
By Dhananjani Silva
Contrary to the view held by most local and foreign poll monitors that the people in the north-east were not allowed to vote freely, an Asian monitoring group says that the people were free to exercise their franchise and the results reflected the people’s will.

Addressing a news conference, the Association of Asian Election Authorities who were in Sri Lanka from November 10 to 20, said the people in the un-cleared areas should have exercised their right to vote without any fear when they had been given the opportunity to do so.

“People did not vote fearing that on their way they would be attacked by some elements. Can you blame either the government or the LTTE for that?” asked the Philipino polls observer Benjamin Abalos .

Bangladesh’s Chief Elections Commissioner Justice M. A. A. Assis also addressing the conference said the voters in the north, could not be considered disfranchised as the intimidation was done by a third party and not by any of the candidates.

The 22 -member AAEA team included observers from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tajikistan.

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