Election violence on the increase – CaFFe

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 17 March 2010, 09:44 GMT]
Election related violence has risen to eighty-six since the closure of nomination for the forthcoming general election that is scheduled to be held on April 8, according to Keerthi Tennakoon, spokesman for the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFe), an election monitoring group. The violence included nineteen cases of damage to property, thirty assaults, 321 election violations and thirteen cases of abusing state property.

Ninety percent of the complaints are against political activists of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) while more violent incidents have been reported from Nawalapitiya, Kurunegala, Kalutara, Matara, Galle, and Ratnapura, he added.