Bishop appeals for violence free elections in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 February 2008, 14:10 GMT]
Rt.Rev.Dr.Kingsley Swampillai, Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, appealed to all political parties to extend their cooperation to help conduct a violence free election, when he addressed a meeting held in the auditorium of Batticaloa public library Tuesday morning attended by a number of Sri Lanka officials.

The meeting arranged by a Batticaloa district humanitarian organization was attended by Vasantha Nanayakkara, Deputy Inspector General of Police(DIG) for Eastern province, Bishop Swampillai, high ranking officials of Special Task Force(STF), representatives of various political parties, candidates contesting in the local council elections, and representatives of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

There were a series of discussions regarding conducting the forthcoming elections for the nine local councils in Batticaloa and during the meeting the Bishop called upon all the political parties and candidates join hands for a just and fair elections.

Representatives of Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), Eeelam People‘s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) were also present at the meeting.

Sunantha Deshapriya, head of the Free Media Movement (FMM) also attended the meeting.