Wayamba Elections

Things gone too far - Alavi We ended reign of terror - President Postal services at full stretch  Bus, train services strengthened Protect your right to vote, says Ranil

All set for tomorrow Ballot boxes being brought into election  offices in Kurunegala

Things gone too far - Alavi

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

Several cabinet ministers and MPs have appealed to the president to crack down on election violence immediately amidst reports of continuing unrest in the North Western Province.

Provincial Council Minister Alavi Moulana said it was important to confiscate all illegal weapons and create a peaceful atmosphere both for the Wayamba poll tomorrow and for other elections on the cards. 

He said action should be taken against those who placed the lives of innocent people on the line for political reasons. 

Mr. Moulana said he felt violence had gone too far and urgent action was needed to confiscate illegal arms and take offenders into custody. 

"Elections in other provinces would have to be reassessed if violence of such nature continues."

Several government MPs also said the time had come to take tough action against those who unleash violence to mar democratic elections. They said that if action was not taken now, future elections also would be seriously affected by violence.

We ended reign of terror - President

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga addressing a meeting at Puttalam last Thursday said, "The people ended the UNP regime with the wish that never again should a reign of terror be allowed. We fulfilled that request of the people within 24 hours of coming to power."

"Our government is a government of the people. Therefore we will not harass the people and subject them to an era of terror. At a time when the people are living in peace, at a time when the elections are being held peacefully, the United National Party is scaring the people. If the United National party once again kills people and attempts to create an era of terror we will take any person involved into custody," she said .

"When we came into power there was a shortage of electricity. It is our government that increased the supply of electricity in this country by 30 percent. We selected Norochcholai to build a power plant. Only advantages and not disadvantages accrue through this. No firm decision has been made yet. If the people are against building a power plant in Norochcholai it would be stopped.

"Today there are many Muslims living in this area. We have studied this area for land reform purposes without race or religious bias. In the recent past we were unable to come here because we were fully engaged in conducting the war started by the United National Party. Prabhakaran is waiting to kill us. Tomorrow, day after, we will end the war and bring peace," she said. 

"Four years ago the people asked us to end the terror during which the youth were killed, and thousands of people were thrown out of their jobs, because they had engaged in strikes. It is the UNP that dragged the Tamil people into the war in the North. That is why there are about a lakh of refugees from the war in Puttalam," she said.

Postal services at full stretch 

By Shelani de Silva

All post offices in the North Western Province will be open on Sunday (24) for voters to collect their polling cards with extended working hours on election day.

Postal Department's Senior Administrative Secretary P W de Silva told The Sunday Times that despite allocating three special days for delivering polling cards only about 90% have been delivered.

"All those voters who did not get their polling cards were able to call over at the post offices from the 20th. We stopped delivering poll cards on the 19th. Certain polling cards were delivered to institutions. There was no major incident," he said.

He added that the procedure adopted is not something new. Whenever we are unable to deliver the polling cards such measures are taken, he said.

While instructions have been sent to all sub post offices to be open on Sunday and Monday , the main post offices will remain open until 12 midnight.

"All Sub Post offices will be open till 8 pm on Sunday and Monday while the main post offices will be opened till 12 midnight on Monday night. 

This is mainly to help candidates and officials who want to use our facilities," he said. All postal workers will be paid overtime, he said.

Bus, train services strengthened

Transport services will be extended to deal with the increased passenger demand on January 25 election day.

General Manager of the Central Transport Board, M.C. Premaratne said that the normal bus transport service will be strengthened in areas where polling booths are located and in rural areas where the roads are motorable.

In addition to transporting passengers, buses will be used to transport ballot boxes, polling and security staff.

The extended service will begin at 7 a.m. on polling day and continue until polling closes at 4 p.m.

Operations Superintendent of Railway, G.R.P. Chandretilleke said that although the normal rail service was sufficient to deal with even an increased demand, the railcar service between Polgahawela and Maho will run an additional four trips on January 25.

Protect your right to vote, says Ranil

UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing a political rally at Chilaw said that the people of Wayamba should take all steps to defend themselves if any attempt is made to prevent them from going to the polls.

He said that in other elections what needs to be done is different from this election. In other elections the important thing is to vote for the representatives of the people. But in this election what is needed is to protect the right to vote.

"The NWPC elections are held to select a Chief Minister and party. Different parties have came forward. People study the policies of the parties and cast their votes to those to whom they wish to hand over power. Just as we introduced Karu Jayasuriya to Colombo we have put forward our best group for Wayamba. Gamini Jayawickrema Perera and Asoka Wadingamangawa sacrificed their seats in Parliament to take the leadership of this team. Mr. Nimal Bandara sacrificed his Chief Minister's post to campaign under Mr. Gamini Jayawickrema Perera," he said.

"In order to stop the power plant coming up in Norochcholai, vote the UNP into power. Except for the UNP no one else can stop the power plant coming up, he said. 

"Industry, agriculture and trade as well as the tourism industry have all collapsed. This government does not have more than another year. After that it will be a UNP government. The UNP is coming forward as a new party to solve the problems of this country. Vote for the UNP which is now a new party building a new society through new policies suited for the new century," he said.

More News/Comments

Return to News/Comment Contents