Capturing Trinco UC, key to scuttle de-merger rhetoric- TNA
[TamilNet, Sunday, 26 March 2006, 18:47 GMT]
"Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) must capture the administration of the Trincomalee Urban Council in the local poll to scuttle the campaign by chauvinist elements for a de-merger of the NorthEast province. Tamil speaking people in Trincomalee district must unequivocally demonstrate that they will not allow any moves of de-merger to materialize," said Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham, Trincomalee district ITAK parliamentarian addressing an election meeting Sunday evening at Anpuvallipuram, a suburb that comes within the Trincomalee urban council boundary, sources in Trincomalee said.
The ITAK officials in the eastern town said they have begun electioneering with full swing -four days more to go for polls which is to be held 30 March.
"We should be prepared to take the challenge to capture more local authorities, especially the Trincomalee Urban Council which is the main target of the chauvinist elements. Every Tamil speaking person in Trincomalee should get out on the polling day to cast his or her vote for the ITAK symbol, HOUSE," Mr.Thurairatnasingham said.

Trincomalee district TNA parliamentarian K.Thurairatnasingham.
The ITAK is contesting 10 out of thirteen local authorities in the Trincomalee district including two urban councils- Trincomalee and Kinniya. The ITAK returned uncontested for Verugal Pradesiya Sabah (PS) located in the LTTE controlled Eachchilampathu division on February 16 when no other political party and independent group submitted nomination lists.
The ITAK is not contesting two PSs-one is Gomarankadawela and the other Padavi Siripura in the north of the Trincomalee district. The ITAK has fielded candidates for the PS of Kantalai, Thambalakamam, Kinniya, Trincomalee Town and Gravets, Seruvila, Morawewa, Kuchchaveli and Muttur.
Trincomalee district election office has made arrangements to set up cluster polling stations for about 10,000 voters registered in the LTTE held Muttur east villages in the no-man zone located beyond the Kaddaiparichchan bridge which divides the LTTE and SLA controlled territories.
At the last presidential poll held in November 2005, election department located cluster polling stations for Muttur east voters into the government-controlled area one km away from the Kaddaiparichchan SLA camp on the direction of the Supreme Court. The Election Department arranged transport for those voters to travel from their villages to the cluster-polling stations to cast their votes. But they boycotted the presidential election.
In the 2004 parliamentary election, the election department located cluster-polling station in the no-man zone located between the SLA and LTTE held territories.
For the current local election the Election Department has agreed to locate cluster polling stations in the no-man zone between the two borders of the SLA and LTTE like in the last parliamentary poll. The Department has also made arrangement to send about 15 buses to transport voters from the LTTE held villages to no-man zone during the polling day, sources said.
Of about 33 thousand registered voters, 16 thousand are Tamils in the Muttur PS area.