TNA candidates receive death threats, Ruling party men confiscate voting cards

by admin
Aug 4, 2009

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) said Wednesday, July 29 that it received complaints that three candidates of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) contesting the election to the Vavuniyaa urban Council have been issued with death threats.

The candidates are V.Paranjothy, N.Mathiharan and P.Sellathurai, according to a press release by the CMEV. The candidates of the TNA have been contesting the Vavuniyaa polls under the banner of Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi (ITAK) in “HOUSE” symbol.

 

Meanwhile, 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 Kozhumpuththurai, Ariyaalai and Eachchamoaddai area in Jaffna, in a press meet held in his Jaffna office Saturday, August 1.

 

TNA parliamentarians Gejendrakumar Ponnambalam and Solomon Cyril along with ITAK chief candidate Mudiyappu Remedias attended the press meet.

 

“Ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) persons who go house by house compare the voting cards with the voters list and forcibly take away cards saying that they will be used to vote for the ITAK ‘House’ symbol if left with the residents,” Suresh Premachandran said.

“40% of the 1,00,400 registered voters in JMC area have been displaced and it is their votes that are going to be rigged and the JMC election on 8 August will be certainly one filled with malpractices and rigging,” he added.

“We will make public the names of persons going around confiscating voting cards in the press meet that is to be held in Jaffna when our parliamentary leader Sampanthan comes to Jaffna next week,” he informed.

“We are also aware of arrangements being made to bring down people from the islets of Jaffna in buses for the purpose of impersonation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Douglas Devananda, Minister and General Secretary of Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) denied anything to do with the persons confiscating the voting cards, in a press release Saturday, August 1.

 

Jaffna University Students’ Union (JUSU), in a recent press release, has appealed the people to vote for TK House symbol saying that only those who care for the Vanni displaced persons and their wellbeing should be returned as their representatives.

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