Five parties to contest in Jaffna Local Council elections

[TamilNet, Friday, 10 February 2006, 11:26 GMT]
Five political parties have expressed interest to contest in local elections in Jaffna district, Jaffna election officials said. Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), and Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK- Federal party), are expected to contest in all regions in Jaffna district whereas All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Muslim Congress will compete only in Jaffna Municipal Council, sources said.

This information was made available after the interested parties contacted the election officials election rules to appoint a party representative to carryout official functions as mandated by the election rules, officials said.

Nominations are being accepted by the Jaffna Elections office from between 9-16th February. However, only EPDP has obtained the necessary application documents until Thursday, election officials said.

Although elections for local councils inside the Liberation Tigers controlled area are expected to be handled by the Kilinochchi Government Secretariat, Sri Lanka Election Commissioner has not decided yet on the feasibility of conducting elections in LTTE controlled areas, Jaffna officials said.

The ITAK is planning to compete under the "House" symbol, and preparations for nominations are being handled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians for Jaffna district, sources said.

Meanwhile, security around Jaffna district secretariat has been strengthened with road blocks and additional Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers, sources in Jaffna said.