President to address Oxford Union

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to address the Oxford Union today(13), on the invitation of the Oxford Union and the Sri Lanka Society of Oxford University.

The topic of his address will be 'Strategy towards empowering the rural economy in Sri Lanka'.
President Rajapaksa will be the first Sri Lankan Head of State and Sri Lankan statesman who has not previously held office in the Oxford Union to address it as a guest speaker. The last distinguished Sri Lankan to address the Union was former Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar.

Tamil Democratic Alliance backs Pillaiyan for CM

The chances of TMVP chief Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan became stronger with the unqualified support extended to him by the lone council member belonging to the Tamil National Democratic Alliance (TNDA) in addition to the six Tamil members elected on UPFA ticket.
Rasaiyah Thurairatnam, National Organiser of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (Vartharaja Group) who won a seat in the East Provincial Council on the TNDA list insisted that the Chief Minister for the East has to be a Tamil and no one else. In an exclusive interview with News-Lanka, he declared that he would support a Tamil becoming the Chief Minister of the East Provincial Council.

Rasaiyah Thurairatnam, the national organiser of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (Vartharaja Group) is one of the few alternative voices in the Tamil community. In 2000, he, with Varatharaja Perumal led a group of party activists to set up EPRLF (Varatharaja Group) when a group led by Suresh Premachandran decided to join the LTTE proxy Tamil National Alliance.

Thurairatnam said that the 13th Amendment brought under the Indo-Lanka Peace accord offered solutions to many a grievance of the Tamil people. “We, having agreed with the Provincial Council system, entered the main- stream of politics to find a peaceful solution to the issues confronting the Tamils of Sri Lanka in particular and the country in general. Therefore the recent Provincial Council election was an attempt to find a solution to the Tamil separatist issues and nothing else,” he said. “Hence the three political parties namely EPRLF, TULF, and PLOTE decided to participate in the Provincial Council Election”.

He pointed out that 74% of the population in the Batticaloa district s is Tamil and of the balance 24 % are Muslims. “The most ridiculous things in this election are that because of Tamil political parties joining hands with the chauvinist political parties and working openly with the intention to subterfuge. However 6 Tamil members to represent the Tamils (break down – 3 Tamil members from UPFA, 2 Tamil members from UNP and 1 from EPRLF) were elected. The Muslims who represents only 24% of the population got 5 seats (3 Muslims from UPFA and 3 from UNP). This is planned strategy to destroy our Tamil region in the East,” he said.
“What those who have joined hands with the Chauvinists have done was that they have seen to end of Tamils’ representation according to the proportion of Tamil population in the area. However, beyond all these things the Provincial Council is meant to bring about the devolution of powers to the Tamils,” Thurairatnam said.

Wimal faction make arrangements to register a new political party

Parliamentarin Nandana Gunathilaka today produced the documents at the Elections Commissioner's Secretariat to register a new party behalf of the Wimal Weerawansa faction . The party is named the National Freedom Front(NFF), colour Gold and the emblem the crown.

According to the party sources that it was not a carbon copy of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.Speaking to media a spokesman of the forthcoming party said that the new political movement will however follow the original strategies of the JVP, formed by Rohana Wijeweera.The party’s doors will be open to anyone who is patriotic and progressive regardless of class, opening up opportunity for open dialogue.

Our sources say Wimal Weerawansa ,Nandana Gunatillake, Deepal Gunasekera and Kamal Deshapriya Mannaperuma will hold the key posts of the party.The ‘National Freedom Front’ will be launched on May 14th at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), sources further say.May 14, 2008 is of special significance to the JVP, as the day marks the 43rd anniversary of the leftist party founded by the late Rohana Wijeweera.

Meanwhile the JVP said the party would take stern action against Wimal Weerawansa and his follower’s.The dissidents said the new party has support of the academics, civil organizations and the patriotic people of Sri Lanka.

Election results show people's mandate to government policy against terror

The results of the elections to the first Eastern Provincial Council show the people's endorsement of the government's policy of restoring democracy and normalcy to areas hitherto controlled by the terrorists, and the overall development programme already initiated in the Eastern Province said President Mahindha Rajapaksha issuing a press statement.
“Following the successful completion of the elections to local government bodies in the Batticaloa District in March this year, this is another important milestone in the government's policy of restoring democratic rights to the people in areas once dominated by the LTTE, and of ensuring democracy throughout the island, he said.
The voters of the Eastern Province who participated in this election peacefully and in large numbers have demonstrated their interest in protecting their democratic rights, which were denied, to them for nearly two decades by the forces of terror; which were restored to them with the liberation of the Eastern Province by the Security Forces.
This election emphasizes the policy of the government to create an environment in which all our people could enjoy democratic rights and live in freedom and harmony. I note that the people of the East have given a clear mandate for peace through the defeat of terrorism, the strengthening of democracy and the development of the country.
I thank all political parties and candidates that participated in the important election, all personal of the Department of the Commissioner General of Elections, all other public officers, and members of the Armed Services and Police that helped in the successful conduct of this election, he noted.
The representatives of the people chosen in this peaceful election represent the will of the people, and I look forward to their cooperation in the country's march to strengthen and widen democracy throughout our country, and to assisting in the tasks already initiated and ahead to develop the Eastern Province, the President assured.

Eastern Province Provincial Councils - Final result

Party	Number of Votes Received	Percentage of Valid Votes	Number of Seats
United People's Freedom Alliance	308886	52.21	20*
United National Party	250732	42038	15
People's Liberation Front	9390	1.59	1
Tamizh Democratic National Alliance	7714	1.30	1

UPFA leads in the postal votes count in Batticaloa And Ampara

In the East Provincial Council Election Postal Vote counting for Batticaloa district is over. Out of the total of 4,427 postal votes in the district, United People's Freedom Alliance received 2159 Votes and leading followed by United National Party 1282 Votes and Tamizh Democratic National Alliance received 454 Votes. in Ampara district total of 8548 postal vates, UPFA received 4722 votes.


Latest Election Result:

Department of Government Information