Veluppillai Thangavelu, President TCWA

Only 2 days are left for elections to be held on September 08, 2012 to elect members to the North Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern provinces. Campaign by the main parties ended on September 05, 2012.

The government almost forced the respective Chief Ministers of the provincial councils to secure their consent to dissolve them more than a year ahead of their normal 5 year term. While the outcome of elections for the Sinhalese dominated North Central and Sabaragamuwa is in no doubt, the battle for the multi-ethnic Eastern provincial council has become a do or die battle between the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

In the elections held in 2008 it was a one horse race for the ruling alliance because of the un-official boycott of the TNA which rightly thought the law and order situation was not conducive for a fair and just elections. Armed groups like the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) was roaming the streets openly displaying weapons supposed to be for personal security.

Political analysts are giving various reasons for dissolving these councils. The major reason appears to be to test the political waters. President Mahinda Rajapaksa wants to prove to the international community that his government's popularity is still intact. Through the Eastern Provincial Council elections he wants to prove that he enjoys support of all three - Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslim - communities thus fending off pressure to find a political solution to the festering ethnic conflict. Therefore, proving his government's popularity has become imperative in the face of the 14th Working Group sessions that will take place from 22 October - 5 November 2012. The pre-sessions will take place from 27 to 31 of August in 1 rue de Varemb�, Geneva. Discussion on Sri Lanka is scheduled for August 31 from 12.00 pm to 1.00 pm. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a new and unique mechanism of the United Nations which started in April 2008 and consists of the review of the human rights practices of all States in the world, once every four years. Through the Universal Periodic Review, the Human Rights Council will review, on a periodic basis, the fulfilment by each of the 193 UN Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments.

At the 20th session in Geneva in March 23, 2012, the HRC adopted a resolution sponsored by the United States urging Sri Lanka to expeditiously implement the LLRC recommendations in order to achieve reconciliation with the Tamil community.

Equally, the TNA which has swept the parliamentary and local government elections wanted to prove to the same international community that Mahinda Rajapaksa does not have the support of the Tamil people.

But, an unexpected blow was dealt by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) to the UPFA when it decided to go though still remaining a constituent partner in the government. This unexpected turn of event was something Mahinda Rajapaksa did not bargain for and certainly it upset the apple cart! So now there is a four cornered contest between the UPFA, TNA, SLMC and the UNP.

In the last elections held for these 3 Provincial Councils the United People's Front Alliance (UPFA) swept the polls capturing power in all three councils. In the elections to the Eastern Provincial Councils in 2008 the UPFA secured 20 out of 37 seats. The following is the summary of the election results:

The UPFA got 18 of 35 while the UNP had 15. The JVP and EPRLF (Naba) had one each. With two bonus seats, the UPFA having 20 of 37 councillors formed the provincial administration.

There were allegations of election irregularities by the United National Party, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna such as vote rigging carried out by members of the UPFA and the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) during election day. In fact, the TMVP carried arms openly to intimidate Tamil voters to vote for UPFA. Although the war was over in the eastern theatre in 2008, the law and order situation remained volatile. Due to wide-spread security threat posed to TNA parliamentarians by armed groups, the TNA boycotted the elections.

This time around the TNA is contesting the elections in all three districts. Eastern Province consists of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai. The following Table gives the ethnic-wise demography of the 3 communities in the Eastern province.

The Table shows that Tamils remain the largest ethnic group in the Eastern Province, although their percentage has steadily declined from 58.96% in 1881 to just 40.39% in 2007 Estimate. On the other hand the percentage of Sinhalese has jumped from just 2.73 % to 21.64 % during the same period. Even the Muslim population has increased from 33.66 in 1881 to 37.64 in 2007 Estimate. The following table shows the district - wise demography of Eastern Province.

Preliminary 2012 census figures released by the Census department gives the population of the Eastern Province as follows:

No proper census was conducted after 1981 in Batticaloa and Trincomalee due to unsettling conditions that prevailed in these districts. Trincomalee district recorded the lowest increase (50.08) while Amparai recorded the highest increase (68.50) between 1981 and 2012. During this period thousands of Tamils in Trincomalee got displaced following attacks by Sinhalese goons and the army.

It is also fruitful to know the district-wise electoral strength of the 3 major communities in the Eastern Province.

It will be seen the Tamils constitute a majority in the Eastern Province though the percentage has been drastically reduced since the state aided colonization that commenced in fifties and still in progress. According to the 1981 census the ethnic ratio of the Eastern Province placed the Tamils at 42%, Muslims 33% and Sinhalese 25%.

According to 2007 Estimate the Tamils are around 40.39, Muslims 37.64 and Sinhalese 21.64 in the Eastern Province. The parliamentary elections held in April, 2010 reflected more or less the demographic pattern of the province. Trincomalee district returned 2 Sinhalese 1 Tamil and 1 Muslim. Amparai returned 3 Sinhalese, 3 Muslims and 1 Tamil. The results for Batticaloa showed 3 Tamils and 2 Muslims. Overall there were 5 Sinhalese, 5 Tamils and 6 Muslims were returned to parliament from the Eastern Province.

A total of 3,073 candidates are contesting for 108 seats in the three provinces in the forthcoming elections. This includes 1,619 candidates from the political parties and 1,454 candidates from the Independent groups. A total of 114 councillors will be elected from all three Provinces. In all 35 members representing 14 from Amparai, 11 from Batticaloa and 10 from Trincomalee will be elected from the Eastern Province.

In the Trincomalee district (eastern province) 16 political parties and 16 independent groups have filed nominations. A total of 416 candidates are in the fray in contention for 10 slots in the Eastern Provincial Council. In the Amparai district 595 candidates are in the fray for 14 seats in the council from16 political parties and 19 independent groups. In Batticaloa 13 political parties and 21 independent groups have filed nominations. The number of contesting candidates are 476 and the members to be elected from the district to eastern Provincial Council is 11.

The TNA list for Amparai will be led by Henry Mahendran. In Trincomalee education ministry consultant C. Thandayuthapani is the leading candidate. Batticaloa will be led by former MP K. Thurairajasingham, a lawyer by profession. The TNA is fielding 44 candidates with ITAK contesting 31 seats, TELO 6 seats, (Batticaloa 2 ,Trincomalee 1 and 3 in Amparai) EPRLF has 3 candidates (Batticaloa 1 and Amparai 2) TULF is contesting in 2 seats (Trincomalee 1 and 1 in Batticaloa) and PLOTE 2 seats � Trincomalee 1 and 1 in Batticaloa.

There is a four cornered contest (UPFA, TNA, SLMC and UNP) and TNA may emerge as the single largest party in this Provincial Council. TNA hopes to win 4 in Trincomalee, 7 in Batticaloa and 3 in Amparai bringing the total to 14 in the Council. If the TNA would emerge the single largest party, it can bag the 2 bonus seats that would take the seat tally to 16 still short of 3 seats for a majority in the 37 seat council. There are reports the TNA might secure the support of the SLMC to make up for the shortfall. A sizable section of the SLMC wants to align itself with the TNA. It is this section that forced Rauff Hakeem to leave the UPFA coalition. To save face it was said the SLMC had the blessings of president Mahinda Rajapaksa! When elections were announced the UPFA was euphoric that it will sail home for a landside victory. Mahinda Rajapaksa was hoping that the combined Sinhalese and Muslims votes will help UPFA to secure majority of seats in the council. He can then tell the world the voters in the Eastern province have rejected merger of North and East. He also has a hidden agenda according to R. Sampanthan leader of the TNA. Mahinda Rajapaksa wants to capture the Eastern provincial council to nullify provincial council's powers over land and

police. He nearly succeeded in taking those powers back but for the refusal of the Sinhalese dominated North Central Provincial Council. The Eastern Provincial Council led by the spineless Pillaiyan shamelessly consented to surrender those powers. However, the SLMC decision to go it alone has upset Mahinda Rajapaksa's master plan. The Muslim votes getting split right down the middle might deny UPFA the majority required to form the administration. Still the All Ceylon Muslim Congress led by Minister Richard Bathiudeen and National Congress headed by Minister A. L. M. Athaulla have thrown their hats with the UPFA.

TMVP led by Sivanesadurai Chandrakanthan is also contesting on the UPFA platform. As a prot�g� of the government he has no choice. TMVP's electoral fortunes is on the decline and at the parliamentary elections held in 2010 it failed to secure a single seat! It performed poorly in Trincomalee district (1,712 votes) and in Amparai district 1490 votes. Only in the Batticaloa district it managed to poll 16,886 votes. The forthcoming elections might lead to the demise of the TMVP for good. The EPDP is no where to be seen in this election.

There is no doubt the UPFA will use or rather mis-use state resources to the full to win the elections. There is thuggery, intimidation and violence used against TNA and SLMC candidates. Two TNA candidates withdrew from contest due to threat to their lives by para military groups. A total of 2,500 graduate teachers have been given employment after the announcement of the elections.

The TNA has to win this elections to show the international community that it holds sway over Tamil people. The Eastern province remained the fortress of the ITAK and then the TULF for decades. At the last general elections in 2010, unlike in the North, no Tamil from any other party other than the TNA was able to win a single seat in the Eastern province. For TNA to win Tamils have to vote with both hands. Compared to other two ethnic groups Tamils are less inclined to vote during elections. At the 2010 parliamentary elections the voter turnout at Paddiruppu, a predominantly Tamil electorate, was only 50.19%! Kaldudda fared no better with 55.55 % voter turnout! Taking Tamil voters to the polling booth to vote will pose a formidable challenge to the TNA since the vote is the only weapon now in the hands of Tamil people.

A poll by Keleniya Univeristy staff says the UPFA has the support of 59% of the voters in Sabragamuwa and North Central Province, but only 33 % om the Eastern Province. The TNA should emerge as the largest party with 15 seats including the 2 bonus seats, followed by UPFA 12, SLMC 8 and UNP 2. A decisive win by the TNA will help to slowdown militarization, Sinhalization and Budhistization of the Eastern province. It will act as a deterrent to illegal land grabbing in the East and attacks

on religious places of worship by extremist yellow robed Buddhist Sinhalese fraternity. Most importantly it will conclusively prove to the international community that Tamil voters have rejected the UPFA led by Mahinda Rajapaksa one more time.

About 1,473 petitioners, from Achchuveli, Palali, Jaffna yesterday applied to the Court of Appeal seeking permission to add to their writ application that the proposed acquisition of their land, in Palali was to be acquired by the State speedily. The petition said the State had decided to take over 6,813 acres, to construct a Defence Headquarters building in Palali.The petitioners requested the Court to restrain the respondent Minister of Lands and Land Development from going ahead with the proposed mala-fide acquisition.

India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is all set to ink an agreement for the execution of the proposed 2 x 250 MW Sampur power project in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka by early next month, as the differences over operation and maintenance charges and issues relating to gross heat rate in the power purchase agreement have been sorted out. "NPTC is all set to take up the project in right earnest. We have deputed a senior official to be posted in Sri Lanka for the project. All issues have been resolved and we are hopeful that a formal agreement will be signed in the first or second week of June," a senior official, who refused to be identified, told The Hindu .

UNP MP Sajith Premadasa says his father gave one group in the LTTE weapons in order to try and create a split in the LTTE. Speaking to the BBC Sandeshiya, Sajith Premadas said that former President Ranasinghe Premadasa had given weapons to an LTTE click led by Mahattaya. "There were allegations my father gave weapons to the LTTE. What my father did was give weapons to an LTTE click he could trust. The LTTE click led by Mahattaya was given weapons to strengthen them and create an uprising against Prabhakaran within the LTTE," he said. Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja also known as Mahattaya was eventually reportedly killed for leaking secrets to India's RAW.

UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake today claimed that a ship carrying fuel designated for Sri Lanka is reportedly lost at sea and that he doesn't believe Petroleum Minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa will be able to locate it. He stated that despite having a total of 9 oil storage tanks in Orugodawatta and Sapugaskanda, the CPC waits till all 9 tanks run dry to import crude oil again. Attanayake further said that the Sapugaskanda oil refinery solely depends on Iranian crude oil and the fact that crude oil for the country was only ordered from a ship which was in international waters is "startling." He stated that as a responsible government food and oil sufficient for the next 3 months should be kept in stocks, however due to the ruling government's "Eda Wela Tours" policy the people are facing grave hardship.

The strike against the increase of electricity tariff hike was launched today (21) with the participation of government and private sector trade unions. Several protests were conducted extending support for the strike. The protest organized by the university lecturers were held at Nugegoda Junction, while the employees of Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital staged a protest in front of the hospital.

Crime branch officers in India on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old Sri Lankan, who was an operative of banned outfit Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), when he was attempting to catch a flight to Nairobi. Interestingly, the accused, an electronics engineer, initially told cops that he entered India by air, but after sustained interrogation, revealed that he took a boat from Sri Lanka and got off at the coast of Tamil Nadu. He ran out of luck as the Sri Lankan government issued an Interpol notice against him, due to which he was nabbed at Mumbai airport. The arrested person, identified as Theva Satesh Kumar, was born and brought up in Jafna in Sri Lanka, which has been an LTTE-dominated area.

Indian Minister V Narayanasamy today said that only the Congress party is "genuinely" interested in ensuring welfare of the Tamils in Sri Lanka while other political parties in Tamil Nadu were shedding "crocodile tears" on the issue. "It is indeed shocking that the political parties who have not done anything for welfare of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees staying in Tamil Nadu are feigning to be their champions and making criticisms against Congress and the party-led UPA government at the Centre on the Tamils issue," he said. Both ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and former Congress ally DMK have frequently expressed concern over attacks on fishermen from the state, allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy, besides flaying Centre for failing to put pressure on Colombo on the issue.

It is reported that BBS is planing to build a huge public opinion against the 13th Amendment. BBS did not make any official comment on their opinion on the 13th Amendment so far and is said to be making it officially at the tomorrow's media briefing. However, since the beginning, the group ironically opposed a devolution of power. BBC program coordinator Mr.Dilantha Withanage has expressed his views to the Asian Tribune web site recently by saying that the BBS is not supporting the 13th Amendment.

The US State Department says intolerance of, and discrimination against, Muslims by some Buddhists saw an increase in Sri Lanka last year. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 released by the US State Department on Monday, also said that last year, U.S. embassy officials conveyed U.S. government concerns about religious freedom, particularly attacks on churches, to government leaders and urged them to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators. The report which looks at religious freedom, or the lack of it in all countries for 2012, noted that in certain instances, local authorities in Si Lanka failed to respond effectively to communal attacks, including attacks on members of minority religious groups.

Voicing concern over attacks on Indian fishermen, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today asked the Centre to take urgent steps for the retrieval of Katchatheevu islet, ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974, besides redrawing the International Maritime Boundary Line. The 1974 Agreement signed between India and Sri Lanka had determined Katchatheevu as a part of Sri Lanka, and it was ceded by the Indian Government unilaterally without obtaining the approval of both Houses of Parliament for a constitutional amendment, she said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "The stand of the Tamil Nadu Government is that Katchatheevu has always been a part of India, geographically, culturally and historically and needs to be retrieved, keeping in view the livelihood interests and security of thousands of Indian fishermen," she said.

A group of Govt MPs have informed Minister Basil Rajapaksa that they are not going to support the 19th Constitutional amendment bill if it attempts to hinder the Provincial council powers or make any suggestions regarding the Executive Presidency. Govt sources say that under these circumstances the Govt has faced a problem of rallying a 2/3 majority in the Parliament as this has caused a 8 MP shortage. Lanka News web site reports that although the Govt had previously planned to call upon a Presidential election on March next year after bringing in the 19th Constitutional amendment, changing the Presidential election time period from 4 years to 3 years and changing its period of office from 6 years to 5 years, due to the lack of majority, it has faced trouble.

The eldest daughter of the former JVP leader, Rohana Wijeweera was arrested by the police after a complaint was filed against her by her mother, Police Spokesman SP Buddhika Siriwardena stated. Rohana Wijeweera has four daughters and a son while the arrested daughter was the eldest. She is due to be presented to courts for allegedly assaulting her mother, police further stated.

Articulating right demands and slogans in Genocide Remembrance events is crucial at a time when the Eezham Tamils in their homeland are barred from even silently mourning their heroes and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the culmination of the genocidal war at Mu"l"li-vaaykkaal, said a Tamil political activist from Jaffna commenting on the slogans used by protestors at the May 19 event at Marina beach in Chennai. Civil society activists, artists, political leaders and ordinary people had participated a mass gathering near the Kannagi statue in the honour of those Eezham Tamils who perished in Sri Lanka"s genocidal war despite dissuasion by the police. Speaking to TamilNet from the gathering, Umar, an activist from the May 17 criticized the failure of UN in preventing the genocide, stating that Sri Lanka must be hauled in the UNSC.

Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) leader Minister Douglas Devananda, an advocate of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, yesterday said the delegation of land and police powers to the provincial councils should be held back for the time being when constituting to the Northern Provincial Council (NPC). In an interview with Daily Mirror, Minister Devananda said there appeared to be dissension in the south over the delegation of such powers to the Provincial Council (PC) and therefore, it should be held back till an understanding between the two major communities - Sinhalese and Tamils - was built up. "If there is no delegation of such powers when forming the Northern Provincial Council, the Tamil people will be concerned. Likewise, Sinhala people will be concerned if these powers are delegated. Therefore, it is advisable to hold it back for the moment until there is understanding," he said.

Respect for basic rights and liberties has declined in Sri Lanka in the four years since the government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This week marks the fourth anniversary of the brutal civil war's end. Since the end of the 26-year-long civil war, the Sri Lankan government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has resisted taking meaningful steps to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes by government forces and the LTTE, end the crackdown against the independent media and human rights activists, and stop ongoing abuses against suspected LTTE supporters. Government pledges to address the concerns of the ethnic Tamil population have gone unfulfilled. "Four years after Sri Lanka's horrific civil war ended, many Sri Lankans await justice for the victims of abuses, news of the 'disappeared,' and respect for their basic rights," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, the Rajapaksa government has rejected investigations, clamped down harder on the media, and persisted in wartime abuses such as torture."

Protests by the fishermen community and political parties have yielded result with the Sri Lankan government ordering the release of the 26 Karaikal fishermen on Monday. The fishermen who are in the custody of the Sri Lankan government will be released after being produced before the Lankan court, said Union Minister of State V Narayanasamy. "Orders for the release have been issued after the intervention of Union Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid, Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Ministers of Tamil origin," Narayanasamy said. As the relations between India and Sri Lanka were not good due to agitations against Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu, securing their release took lot of time,he added.

Former Colombo Deputy Mayor Azath Salley who shot to fame as a result of his arrest, today said President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the ideal person to bring about proper peace and reconciliation. Mr. Salley told a news conference that President Rajapaksa's own family comprised members of different religions and ethnic groups who lived peacefully. Therefore he said it would be easy for the President to establish peace in the country in the same way he had maintained peace among his own family members. The Former Deputy Mayor thanked the Ministers in the government, several countries and opposition politicians who played a role in securing his release from prison. He recalled that many had worked towards his release, although he was not even a member of a local authority.

Vanni district parliamentarian Sivasakthi Anandan has received a written order to report to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) regarding a function held at the Vavuniya Town Council Hall on May 18th to commemorate the war victims. Mano Ganeshan, the leader of People's Democratic Front has stated that by ordering Sivasakthi Anandan to report to CID the government has violate the public right to commemorate dead which is recommended in a report in the Presidential Commission. Speaking to 'BBC Sandeshaya' he has stated "the provisions in Learned Lessons and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) report clearly indicates that the public must be provided with an opportunity to commemorate dead. However the government has not allowed it. The MP who was involved in the commemoration has been ordered to report to CID".

The Russian Federation has requested Sri Lanka's support to win the bid for hosting EXPO 2020, the Government Information Department reported. The Head of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independence States-Russia, Konstantin Kosachev when he met Sri Lanka's Prime Minister D.M.Jayarathna has emphasised how important the vote of Sri Lanka is for Russia to host EXPO 2020. Russia is competing for the votes of 162 countries along with Thailand, Turkey, Brazil and UAE. Kosachev has briefed the Sri Lankan PM that Russia expects to conduct this exhibition in Yekatennburg which links Asian and European countries and around twenty million people from foreign countries are expected to attend this exhibition. Kosachev has reiterated that it would help Sri Lanka to meet its goal of attracting 2.5 million tourists.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Sri Lanka has commenced recording statements from the family members of people disappeared in the Matale area during the 1988-1989 insurrection of the Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). The CID has so far recorded the statements from the families of 13 persons who had claimed that their loved ones were among those killed and buried in the Matale mass grave. The mass grave in Matale was unearthed at the Matale Hospital premises last November and 154 skeletal remains were exhumed from the grave. It is believed that the skeletal remains unearthed from the Matale mass grave were of insurgents from the JVP killed during the 1988-89 violence. Matale magistrate and additional district judge Chaturika de Silva earlier this month ordered the CID to record statements from the relatives of the missing persons.