South Asia News

Low turn out in local polls in northern Sri Lanka (Roundup)

Aug 8, 2009, 12:02 GMT

Colombo - A low voter turnout marred the first local elections held in northern Sri Lanka after the defeat of Tamil rebels, officials said Saturday. Municipal elections took place in Jaffna town, 396 kilometers north of the capital, and elections for the urban council in Vavuniya, 240 kilometres north of Colombo. The elections were the first in the northern province without the presence of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that held sway for 26 years before being crushed by the military in May. At least one of the parties contesting the elections - the Tamil National Alliance - was considered close to the rebels. In the Jaffna, where 100,417 voters were registered to vote, less than 20 per cent turned up by the close of polls Saturday evening. In Vavuniya, around 30 per cent of the 24,616 eligible voters, cast their ballots. 'The voting was below our expectations as we expected a better turn out,' one politician said. Government officials, however, noted that in Jaffna at least 40 of those who were registered to vote had migrated. But residents said that many of the civilians affected by the war not interested in the elections. Over 280,000 civilians have been displaced by the war between government forces and rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils. Many have been accommodated in camps that generally lack proper sanitation and medical facilities and allow for little access to relatives.

South Asia News

Low turn out in local polls in northern Sri Lanka (Roundup)

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