The main opposition UNP yesterday called on the Elections Commissioner not to hold the Provincial Council Election in the East and handed over a petition to him against the local government polls in the Batticaloa District.UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake who handed over the petition together with MPs John Amaratunga, Ravi Karunanayake, Dayasiri Jayasekera and Lakshman Seneviratne said they requested the Elections Commissioner not to hold the Provincial Council elections in the East.
Mr. Attanayake said the Elections Commissioner will make his stand known in a few days.
The front line members of the UNP led by the Opposition Leader Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe held a protest opposite the Elections Department office prior to handing over the petition.
Mr. Wickremesinghe who addressed the protest said the UNP would not allow the Government to hold another election in the future, similar to the Batticaloa local government election.
“The Batticaloa election has ignored the people’s rights completely,” he said while describing it as an election through which the Government has handed over the East to a terrorist group after taking it over from another terrorist group. This is nothing but State terrorism, he added.
Karuna’s statement in a London court where he had accused the Government of supporting the TMVP creating a division between him and the Pillayan group testified to this, he said.
Mr. Wickremesinghe warned that this State terrorism will spread to other parts of the country as well and he pledged to put a stop to it.
The Opposition Leader expressed his dismay over the comments made by PAFFREL which he alleged had agreed with the UNP stand earlier. He said PAFFREL had declared that the election was free of violence but at the same time said that there would have been a blood bath if the UNP contested.
While stating that the election had given a grim picture on Sri Lanka to the international community and to the country, he said it is the LTTE which will ultimately benefit from it.
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