Sri Lanka’s ruling UPFA coalition has won 14 seats in the Eastern Provincial Council elections to the TNA’s 11, in an election mired with controversy.
The margin and manner of victory has been hotly contested, with the loss of a seat for the Tamil National Alliance during a reported “power cut”, whilst votes were being counted in Batticaloa (See report from TamilNet here).
The UPFA also managed to gain two ‘bonus seats’ through the Provincial Councils Elections Act (see here) despite having an overall winning margin of less than 7,000, according to government figures. If the TNA had won the ‘bonus seats’, they would have come first in the elections.
Furthermore, low voter turnout and reports of threats and intimidation along with a massive Army and Police presence, marred the elections.
Nonetheless, the Tamil National Alliance emerged as the single largest party in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa, only losing to the UPFA in the Amparai district.
The TNA also saw a marked increase in votes from the 2010 Parliamentary elections in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa. In 2010, the TNA gained 33,268 and 66,235 votes in both districts respectively, but now obtained 44,396 and 104,682 votes in the district.
The Eastern province has seen a flurry of colonisation and Sinhalisation, with the ICG reporting earlier this year that this was part of a strategy to ""change the facts of the ground", as has already happened in the east, and make it impossible to claim the north as a Tamil-majority area deserving of self-governance."
Almost 100 civil society leaders earlier wrote to the Tamil National Alliance urging them to reject the provincial council system and the demerging of the North and East, as they prepare to contest in the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council Elections. See here.
The Tamil National Alliance boycotted provincial council elections in the east in 2008, claiming the environment was not safe to operate in due to the activity of paramilitary groups.
Batticaloa
In the Batticaloa Districts, the TNA won convincingly in all the divisions but one in Kalkuda, losing that to the UPFA by a margin of just over a 1,000 votes. In the Padiruppu division alone, the TNA won by over 25,000 votes.
They gained 6 seats in the district overall, to the UPFA’s 4.
Trincomalee
Overall in the Trincomalee district, the TNA and UPFA won 3 seats each.
In the Trincomalee Division, the TNA won by a margin of almost 20,000 votes, but the division of Seruwila where Basil recently dispatched a 1,000 member squad saw the UPFA, UNP and Wimal Weerawamsa’s NFF all beat the TNA.
Amparai
In the Amparai district, the TNA only won 2 seats to the UPFA’s 5.
In the Amparai division itself, the TNA only mustered 33 votes overall.
They managed to defeat the UPFA in both Pottuvil and Kalmunaim losing in Sammanturai.
The margin and manner of victory has been hotly contested, with the loss of a seat for the Tamil National Alliance during a reported “power cut”, whilst votes were being counted in Batticaloa (See report from TamilNet here).
The UPFA also managed to gain two ‘bonus seats’ through the Provincial Councils Elections Act (see here) despite having an overall winning margin of less than 7,000, according to government figures. If the TNA had won the ‘bonus seats’, they would have come first in the elections.
Furthermore, low voter turnout and reports of threats and intimidation along with a massive Army and Police presence, marred the elections.
Nonetheless, the Tamil National Alliance emerged as the single largest party in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa, only losing to the UPFA in the Amparai district.
The TNA also saw a marked increase in votes from the 2010 Parliamentary elections in both Trincomalee and Batticaloa. In 2010, the TNA gained 33,268 and 66,235 votes in both districts respectively, but now obtained 44,396 and 104,682 votes in the district.
The Eastern province has seen a flurry of colonisation and Sinhalisation, with the ICG reporting earlier this year that this was part of a strategy to ""change the facts of the ground", as has already happened in the east, and make it impossible to claim the north as a Tamil-majority area deserving of self-governance."
Almost 100 civil society leaders earlier wrote to the Tamil National Alliance urging them to reject the provincial council system and the demerging of the North and East, as they prepare to contest in the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council Elections. See here.
The Tamil National Alliance boycotted provincial council elections in the east in 2008, claiming the environment was not safe to operate in due to the activity of paramilitary groups.
Batticaloa
In the Batticaloa Districts, the TNA won convincingly in all the divisions but one in Kalkuda, losing that to the UPFA by a margin of just over a 1,000 votes. In the Padiruppu division alone, the TNA won by over 25,000 votes.
They gained 6 seats in the district overall, to the UPFA’s 4.
Trincomalee
Overall in the Trincomalee district, the TNA and UPFA won 3 seats each.
In the Trincomalee Division, the TNA won by a margin of almost 20,000 votes, but the division of Seruwila where Basil recently dispatched a 1,000 member squad saw the UPFA, UNP and Wimal Weerawamsa’s NFF all beat the TNA.
Amparai
In the Amparai district, the TNA only won 2 seats to the UPFA’s 5.
In the Amparai division itself, the TNA only mustered 33 votes overall.
They managed to defeat the UPFA in both Pottuvil and Kalmunaim losing in Sammanturai.
