The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka calls on working people and youth to vote for its candidates in the Southern Provincial Council election on October 10. The party is standing a slate of 26 candidates for the Galle district.

The SEP candidates include plantation and industrial workers, teachers, bank workers, students and housewives. The slate is led by Ratnasiri Malalagama, a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist League (the SEP’s forerunner) and an SEP Political Committee member, who has devoted his entire adult life to defending the interests of the working class.

The SEP fights for the unity of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim workers in opposition to the nationalism and communalism of the ruling class and its parties. We insist that the working class can only defend its democratic rights and living standards on the basis of an independent political movement for a workers’ and peasants’ government as part of the broader struggle for socialism internationally. (REad More)

When the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill is debated next week, the government, in compliance with Supreme Court recommendations, will delete the sections relating to the naming of political parties after religions and communities.

The Supreme Court last week determined that several clauses in the Bill, including one that prohibited political parties from using names that signified a religion or an ethnic community, violated fundamental rights guaranteed in the Sri Lanka Constitution.

The Court recommended that the words “ … or signifies any religion or community … ” be deleted from the Bill. However, the section that required political parties to provide annual audited statements of accounts and details of donations received was consistent with the Constitution, the Court ruled.

Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, who heads the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, said the Bill would be passed once the amendments were made. “These amendments are based on recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee, and the Court has suggested only a few changes, and we will comply with them,” Mr. Gunawardena told the Sunday Times.

Development work carried out in the South by successive UNP governments cannot be matched by the UPFA, which was now banking on ‘Anarkali’ to boost its Southern Provincial Council Election Camapaign, the UNP said yesterday.

The UNP’s candidate for the October 10 Southern Provincial Council Election, Manusha Nanayakkara, addressing a news conference in Colombo, said that the Southern people were very angry with the government over the treatment meted out to them in the aftermath of the ‘Tsuanmi’ and the unbearable cost of living that they have been subjected to.

The southerners were severely affected by the ‘Tsunami’ but were left to fend for themselves despite huge sums of money pouring in from foreign donors. "Where all that money went is anybody’s guess." ..................... (Read More)

Despite September 27 being a Sunday, postmen will be on special duty to deliver the polling cards. Elections are scheduled for October 10.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday alleged that officers attached to the Presidential Security Division (PSD) had been connected to Sajin Vaas  Gunawardena for his election campaign and were terrorizing candidates at the forthcoming Southern Provincial Council elections campaign, JVP Parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday.

“The president should be approving it, since his PSD officers go around threatening opposition politicians with their weapons flashing their PSD identity cards, recently they stormed into a JVP office in 20 vehicles and threatened our supporters and candidates,” Dissanayake charged.

According to Dissanayake around seven of their party officers had come under attack while five of their candidates had been hospitalised.

The JVP had decided to abstain during  Thursday’s vote on the emergency regulations and threatened that next time they were keen to vote against the government if it kept misusing the powers, Dissanayake said.

“It’s a warning, but next time there will be no warning. We will vote against them, when our Southern Provincial Council candidates are attacked the Police arrests are own people for the attack. What kind of law enforcement is that,” Dissanayake questioned.

Speaking on the recent arrest of Lankan journalists under emergency regulations Dissanayake said that the government was clearly abusing the Emergency regulations in the guise of eradicating terror and the underworld.“How can they keep these journalists without a restraining order? Only a Police SSP can permit the arrest for three days and anything more than that has to come from the secretary of the ministry of Defence,” Dissanayake said. Instead of being produced to court they had been brought to the TID (Terrorism Investigation Division), he added.

Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said that the President also instructed them to engage in election campaign peacefully without involving in violent activities.

"The President had warned that disciplinary action would be taken against the candidates who would be linked to violence during the election," the Minister said.

Minister Alahapperuma said the President wants a peaceful election result without any violence.

Addressing a UPFA press conference at the Mahaweli centre, the Transport Minister said that even after MR won the presidency people called him ‘Mahinda Mahattaya,’ though a section of the Opposition had sought to poking fun at him. Constantly attacking the President for implementing what the Opposition called as the Medamulana Chintanaya, too, would be counterproductive, he said asserting the ruling coalition was now in a position to finish off the UNP and JVP in the South politically.

He said that the utterances of some UNP leaders and chaotic campaigns would place Sajith Premadasa, MP in an extremely difficult and embarrassing position in the Hambantota District.

A large number of staunch supporters of the United National Party and many JVP activists in the Hambantota Urban Council limits joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party recently.

They had been thoroughly displeased with the party leadership and its prevailing state of affairs. They have dissolved their branch offices and sought membership with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Meanwhile, a vast number JVP activists who are stalwart supporters of the party in the Hambantota UC limits have also dissolved their party branch office in the Hambantota UC limits and joined the Sri Lanka Freedom party.