No signs of resettlement of IDPs in KKS

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 October 2009, 07:20 GMT]
Sri Lanka Government has announced its intention of opening Kaangkeasanthu’rai (KKS) Road for public in view of the reopening of KKS cement factory located in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ). Mere opening of KKS road is meaningless while more than 100,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) evacuated from their residences 20 years ago are still languishing in camps and in relatives’ houses without being resettled, IDP Welfare Organizations in Jaffna said.
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JMC mayor, deputy to take oath before President

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 October 2009, 16:32 GMT]
Eealm People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) sources in Jaffna said that the successful candidates of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) proposed to hold office as Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) will take the oath 12 October in front of Sri Lanka President, Mahinda Rajapakse at his official residence, Temple Trees, in Colombo. Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members of JMC had already taken the oath while the UPFA members will be taking the oath in front of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor after 12 October, the sources added.
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Eelam and the new 'super power' Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 23 August 2009, 04:46 GMT]
In their petty geopolitical and corporate interests, India and the West have created a Frankenstein monster of a state in Sri Lanka that disgraces the whole world. What fears them now is this monster in its frenzies making their labours lost in the island. This is what impels them to tell the victims to reconcile, not to anger the monster and not to say genocide even when it takes place for decades. A general excuse they come out with is that the present world has no appetite for new nation states. Colombo makes the best use of this weakness. No justifiable norm of polity could be seen in why India and the West should labour so hard to uphold a united Sri Lanka and to appease it beyond all limits, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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EPDP member demands Jaffna Mayor post

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 August 2009, 18:45 GMT]
The Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) candidate, who got more preferential votes than Ms. P. Yogeswari who had been proposed to the post of Jaffna Mayor by Minister Douglas Devananda, is said to demand being appointed as the Mayor, sources in Jaffna said. Apputhurai Manuel Mangaleswaran alias Nesapriyan, the member in question, had obtained 1394 preferential votes while Yogeswari had only polled 1250 preferential votes attaining fifth rank, the sources added.
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Patkunam Yogeswary appointed Mayor of JMC

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 17:29 GMT]
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in Jaffna said in a press release Tuesday that Ms. Patkunam Yogeswary has been appointed as the Mayor of Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC), and its senior member Thurairajah Illango, alias Regan, as Deputy Mayor by Social Service Minister Douglas Devananda. Civil society sources in Jaffna, however, said Ms. Yogeswary was appointed Mayor though Thurairajah Illango had polled more preferential votes than Ms. Yogeswary, mainly to due to pressure from Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), one of the coalition member party in the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
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Remdiyas gets highest number of preferential votes in JMC election

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 August 2009, 07:50 GMT]
Mudiyappu Remediyas, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) backed chief candidate of Ilankai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) scored 4223 votes, the highest number of preferential votes, in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday while ITAK second candidate, Ms. Anthonypillai Mariamma, got 1678 votes. United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) chief candidate failed to secure a seat while V. Anandasangaree contesting in Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) ticket secured one seat obtaining 424 votes.
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Around 18,26% votes cast in JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 13:04 GMT]
Only around 18,26 % percent of eligible voters had cast their votes in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election held Saturday, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. These votes are the ones cast in the 70 polling centres in Jaffna district leaving out those cast in the polling centres located out of Jaffna. Only nearly 200 votes had been cast in many polling booths where 1300 voters were registered to vote. Comparatively, the voting percentage was higher in the coastal areas. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian, Suresh Premachandran, quoting police sources, said that ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters had tried to enter some polling booths showing Sri Lanka Army (SLA) identity documents instead of the officially accepted seven kinds of documents including National Identity Card (NIC) and passport.
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EPDP men injured in police attack during JMC election

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 August 2009, 11:43 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA), quoting police sources in Jaffna, said that Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) supporters who tried to forcibly enter a polling booth to vote in a school in Nayanmaarkaddu were injured in a clash when the police took action to stop them. Meanwhile, election officials said that 17.5 % to 18% of the total eligible votes may have been cast at the close of voting at 4:00 p.m and added that the accurate figures will only be available one hour after the ballot boxes are brought to Jaffna Secretariat.
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EPDP men violate human rights – ITAK chief candidate Remediyas

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 14:16 GMT]
“Minister Douglas Devananda’s men are intimidating the fishermen in Jaffna that the ban on fishing will be imposed again if they vote for Ilankai Thamizh Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election and this is an obvious violation of human rights,” Mudiyappu Remediyas, the principal candidate of ITAK, said in the press conference held Tuesday in ITAK office in Jaffna.
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EPDP candidate attacked in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 02 August 2009, 19:19 GMT]
Unidentified persons attacked Saturday night around 11:00 p.m one of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) candidates contesting Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) and the attacked candidate is admitted to Jaffna Teaching Hospital, sources in Jaffna said. Some residents in Ariyaalay where the attack took place said that youths who had been deceived by the said EPDP candidate who had received money promising them jobs, had attacked him. Meanwhile, police have taken ten supporters of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) into custody and detained them for investigation.
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Ruling party supporters confiscate voting cards in Jaffna – TNA

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 17:11 GMT]
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran alleged that the ruling party contestants in Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election had forcibly confiscated more than 1500 voting cards from residents in Kozhumpuththu’rai, Ariyaalai and Eachchamoaddai area in Jaffna, in a press meet held in his Jaffna office Saturday. TNA parliamentarians Gejendrakumar Ponnambalam and Solomon Cyril along with Thamizharsuk Kadchi (TK) chief candidate Mudiyappu Remedias attended the press meet.
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No persons can carry arms in Batticaloa from August 1- DIG

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 August 2009, 07:58 GMT]
No one would be allowed to carry arms in Batticaloa district except police personnel and members of the State armed forces, said the Eastern Region Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Mr. Edison Gunatilake, said. He made this announcement at a meeting held Thursday evening at Thevanayagam Hall in Batticaloa. Members of paramilitary groups, Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP), Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF-Padmanaba wing) and the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) and senior police and Special Task Force (STF) personnel attended the meeting along with businessmen and entrepreneurs of the district.
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TNA accuses government of using state resources in JMC election campaign

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 July 2009, 16:36 GMT]
Ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) conducted Sunday a large scale procession of vehicles organized by Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in Jaffna town in which more than a thousand supporters participated, canvassing people to vote for the Betel symbol of UPFA, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has also entered into the fray, accused UPFA and its ally EPDP of using government vehicles for election campaign. TNA also accused the police for being partial to UPFA in carrying out duties related to Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, the sources added.
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Opening A9 route, an election gimmick – Mudiyappu Remedias

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 22 July 2009, 19:23 GMT]
“Though the Government of Sri Lanka had control of the A9 land route to Jaffna eight months ago it had kept it closed until now when it opens the route for public use as an election gimmick to lure voters in but no one can fool the people of Jaffna, Mudiyappu Remedias, the chief candidate of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), contesting Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, said in an interview to TamilNet Wednesday
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Police force public to attend UPFA election office opening in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 July 2009, 14:17 GMT]
Sri Lanka Police brought in their vehicles ten persons each from their local areas in Jaffna peninsula whom they had summoned to the police stations through the respective Village Officers, to the official opening of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) election office in Jaffna, Sunday around 9:30 a.m, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, Minister Douglas Devananda, leader of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), an ally of UPFA, was a notable absentee in the event held in the newly opened UPFA election office located on Somasuntharam Veethi, Chu’ndikkuzhi, Jaffna, the sources added.
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Police, SLA partial to UPFA in JMC election

[TamilNet, Thursday, 16 July 2009, 04:39 GMT]
Political parties and Independent groups contesting the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) elections accused the police and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) for being partial to United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) in the issue of campaign wall posters, sources in Jaffna said. Though the police authorities had banned all wall posters and had ordered the removal of the posters, the police and the SLA had only torn and tarred the posters of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (TAK) political parties, leaving the UPFA posters untouched, the sources added.
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SL minister promises to fulfill President Rajapakse’s dream, in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 July 2009, 15:14 GMT]
”President Mahinda Rajapakse’s present dream is to make goods available to Jaffna people at reasonable Colombo prices”, Minister of Electricity and Energy, Aluthananda Gamage, said in an event held at Nalloor Divisional Secretariat Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said. The visiting minister, accompanied by Minister Douglas Devananda, further promised that steps would be taken before 1st August to fulfill President Rajapakse’s dream, the sources added.
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UPFA involved in obvious breach of election regulations in Jaffna - TNA

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 2009, 05:07 GMT]
“The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and its allied parties using great number of vehicles in election campaign in Jaffna and that too guarded by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the police is an obvious breach of election regulations,” Mudiyappu Remedias, the chief contestant of Tamil National Alliance (TNA), said in a meeting held Sunday morning at Vembadi Girls’ College in Jaffna by SLA and police authorities with the representatives of the parties contesting the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) elections. The meeting was convened to discuss arrangements to offer protection to the contestants, sources in Jaffna said.
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Indian High Commissioner on pulse reading mission in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 07 July 2009, 15:10 GMT]
Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mr. Alok Prasad, arrived at Palaali Military Airport Tuesday morning accompanied by his deputy and political wing head and held several meetings in Jaffna with the representatives of academic circles, political parties, interreligious associations and civil organizations in Jaffna peninsula in an effort to read the pulse of the people of the peninsula, sources in Jaffna said. “The Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka have faith only on China while the Tamils had absolute faith on India which had committed a historical blunder by betraying the Tamils in Sri Lanka,” one of the civil society representative participant said, commenting on Alok Prasad’s visit to Jaffna.
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UPFA, Muslim Congress, independent group submit nomination for JMC election

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 24 June 2009, 14:58 GMT]
United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by its General Secretary and Minister Susil Premajayantha along with Minister Douglas Devananda submitted its list of nomination to Jaffna election officer Wednesday, sources in Jaffna said. Muslim Congress (MC) tendered its list with Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Sahir as the principal candidate while Abimanasingham Manickasothy, submitted the nomination list of his independent group contesting JMC election Wednesday, the sources added.
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