Jaffna mc polls to be held soon

In the wake of the Eastern, North Central and Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council elections, the government is now planning to hold elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council to gauge public opinion in the northern capital, a Minister said yesterday.

EPDP leader and Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda told Daily Mirror the election would be conducted soon and the government was holding a series of discussions to work out the preliminaries. “We will be able to conduct it before the end of this year.

This is to test the waters in the peninsula,” Mr. Devananda who represents the Jaffna district as an MP said and added that this would be followed by elections to the Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas in the district.

He said in lighter vein that this election would be a battle between him and TULF leader V. Anandasangaree.

The elections to the Jaffna Municipal Council were last held in 1998 after the peninsula was liberated from the LTTE. The TULF won the elections at the time and took over the administration of the council.

TULF member Sarojani Yogeswaran was elected Mayor but she was gunned down allegedly by the LTTE soon after her election to office.

Her successor K. Sivapalan also died in a bomb blast in September 1998 that targeted a Jaffna meeting between the councilors and security officials. He was succeeded by parliamentarian N. Raviraj.

Meanwhile, EPRLF leader P. Sritharan said that he too had heard about government plans to hold elections.

“We will definitely contest if there is an election,” he said.

Source : Daily Mirror