Ghost candidates submit resignations

[TamilNet, Thursday, 19 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Officials at the Elections Commissioner's office in Jaffna said that so far 28 persons elected in January to the 17 local government bodies in the peninsula have resigned from their posts.

Of these, nine are from the Jaffna Municipal council they said.

The main reason behind the resignations is that the majority of the candidates who were fielded by the Tamil parties to contest the Jaffna local government elections exist only in paper.

Hard pressed to find people who were ready to come forward to contest elections, all the parties filled up their nomination papers with non-existent candidates.

The elections commission was not in position to check the lists as it was adequate for the party secretary and the chief candidates to appear before the district branch of the elections commission to submit nomiantions.

The bona fides of the lists were accepted as they had been endorsed by lawyers and justices of peace.

Some sources in Jaffna say that the EPDP is finding excuses for not taking oaths to any of the Pradeshiya Sabhas to which it was elected because it is yet to find real people to take the place of all the ghost candidates who were returned in the elections in January (This is, however, hotly denied by the group). Therefore, the resigning persons are also not real, claim the sources.

The letters of resignations are signed by those who placed different signatures for the imaginary candidates on the nominations lists in November last year they said.