The Eastern Provincial Council election has concluded and Pillayan has been appointed as Chief Minister by the President. The President says he has offered democracy to the people of the East after liberating it from the LTTE. The Opposition political parties have protested and threatened to go to courts. They say the election was not free or fair. The question is important since one would like to know whether Pillayan got the support of the Tamils in the East for a political solution rather than through war. If they truly accepted a peaceful solution the chances of the LTTE returning are slim. But this will also depend on how the Government deals with the Provincial Council in the days to come. Whether th Presidnet will honor his promise to devolve more power to the Eastern PC. Or whether it will be another betrayal like the B_C Pact or the Dudley Chelva Agreement. Will the 13th Amendment be implemented?

The criteria for a free and fair election are laid down in international declarations particularly by the International Parliamentary Union. One of the fundamental requirements is that the “State should take the necessary measures to ensure that parties, candidates and supporters enjoy equal security”. The candidates should have security with respect to their lives and property protected by the State. Another criterion is that different political parties should be free to contest the election on an equal basis. The former Communist countries held elections regularly but only the Communist party was allowed to contest. Where a few independents contested they were unequally treated. Nobody said those elections were free and fair. Political parties should have the right to campaign on an equal basis with equal opportunity of access to the media and equal facilities to communicate with their voters. It is said that the opposition parties were not allowed to hold meetings after 6 pm and that there was discrimination against the opposition parties. It is also said that state’s resources were used to promote the candidates of the UPFA. Since one political party carried arms it was impossible to assume that the ground conditions ever existed for a free and fair election.

1. For you to beleive that just because one priest was shot dead the entire Tamils did not vote in the North is halucination. There were also threats by Militant groups during earlier presidential elections, yet at leat 15% voted, but not the last time. How do you explain the Statistics? Do you tell us that LTTE had more control in Jaffna, presently occupied by the military? Come to reality.

What you say is something you have heard in the SN propaganda machinery and not the truth. Try to discern the truth as Sinhala mass media do not give the truth !

2. Discrimination is discrimination whether to Blacks, Tamils or any one else. I am glad that you admit that there is discrimination to Tamils. Blacks were better off in the USA because they were doing it in a civilised country. No Black was shot dead in the freedom struggle.The SN is cruel, ruthless and without good morals. This is the reason for the killing of Tamil journalists, murders, disappearances, torture and displacements. This has been happening since 1956.

Political boycot is something yet to be understood by the SN.

1. the reason the Tamils in the North didnt vote is not because they were exercising there democratic right not to vote… it was because the LTTE (at gun point) suppressed their DEMOCRATIC right to vote! (remember what happened to the priest who voted?.. if you don’t, ask around)
so before you go ask J J the question, maybe you should take a crack at it for yourself.
“are you unable to swallow reality?”

2. You really should think things through before trying to compare the Tamil struggle to the Black peoples struggle for civil rights! first of all, Tamils have never been discriminated as the black people were in the USA. furthermore, LTTE didn’t get Tamils to boycott buses… my friend, LTTE got innocent Tamil kids to Blow the buses up!

3. Nice try though… Good luck with the liberation bro….

I totally agree with you that the CFA(early) period was really good for everyone. We could go around in peace and live without the fear of terrorism.
But I believe you are hailing aspects of the cease fire period that were merely a mirage… PEACE…it really didnt exists. the CFA was exactly what it says “cease fire”… no mention of peace… LTTE never wanted to make a genuine effort towards peace… think for yourself, time between the meetings of the delegations on both sides, was the LTTE preparing for WAR or PEACE?
furthermore, if you refer history leading up to the resumption of hostilities you might realise that this war was innevitable… the CFA was never going to take us to peace… the LTTE can’t be trusted… how can we negotiate?
I believe that the stand taken by the government is correct. negotiate only if LTTE disarms. that is the only way that GoSL will not give LTTE another chance to regroups and rearm.

Are you unable to swallow reality? Democracy does not include threats. Do not threaten Tamils with the military power and majority numbers of the Sinhala Nation (SN). That is why where we are today with war and bloodshed.This is what the (SN) thinks the solution is. It is not the solution. The solution is political and that is granting the people of North East the right to rule themselves.

Absence of war is not peace. Peace in Sri Lanka can be achieved only when the legitimate right to self rule is granted to the people of North East. Any other thinking is ficticious. Tamils are not asking for development and just to be out of refugee camps for a few years and enjoy temporary luxuries. They want much more than that. Their freedom and independence.

You seem to be angry at the truth that LTTE is a freedom movement of the people of North East. They are also an armed resistance movement. LTTE cannot be reasonably asked to be disarmed by anyone, when state terror is at its peak, as now, and the GOSL is full of dishonesty, untruthfulness and trickery against Tamils; which had been the history of Sri Lanka for the past 60 long years.

The Sri Lankan state is a rebel state with a rebel constitution formed in 1972. People of North East (NE) were not a part of it. In 1977, the people of NE voted for independence. When you say that you want to talk to us about “power devolution”, do you think that we should speak ONLY to Sri Lanka state? Definitely not. The International Community, too has an obligation towards our decolonisation, leading to independence. Britain failed in its responsibility.

My thinking is that even if there is another presidential election tomorrow, the people of North East should again boycot the polls enmasse and thereby express democratically the utter disfatisfaction with all the proxy parties of the Buddhist cult which are against the self rule of the people of North East.

Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist in the USA, was arrested for sitting in the seats reserved for the Whites. And that lead to mass boycot by Black Americans against bus travel for more than 300 days. Finally, that democratic protest fell into the ears of the America nd the International Community. So will it be for the people of NE.

On the other hand, stop supporting the LTTE, disarm them, then we’ll talk about power devolution.

[Edited out], when will these people really care about the people affected by this war. I mean they might have revenge in mind with people who have been affected by the war and this revenge they try to get at all costs. ARGHHH!

Unitil a two-third majority of the Sinhala voters decide to offer a just solution acceptable to the Tamil people, continuation of the war is inevitable. Our communities are like two trains speeding towards each other with no breaks and they are very close to each other ignoring all red lights.

Tamils had no substantial reason to vote for any Sinhala Party in the South, who were acting as proxies to the Buddhist cult leaders. The Buddhist cult leaders were opposed to the granting of the legitimate rights of the people of North East to rule themselves.

There was a “devil and the deep sea” scenario.

The UNP was tricky and dishonest as usual. They said they were holding “peace talks” with LTTE but were stealthily persuading Karuna to divide the LTTE. This, they did in Bangkok and succeeded. A government minister of the former UNP regime openly said this during the last general election, and claimed credit for this dishonesty and untruthfulness against Tamils. Therefore, Tamils could have never trusted the devil in the UNP.

The UPFA on the otherhand, had joined hands with JVP, described as “Devil” by Chandrika and understood well by the Tamils. JVP are chauvinists and ultra racists. The government with JVP would always go for war and genocide of Tamils in the North East was comprehensable.

On one side Tamils had UNP stabbing on the back. On the otherside was genocidal UFPA. Therefore, the choice was between the “devil and the deep sea” . Any wise Tamil would not have voted for either the UNP or UFPA.

The people of North East were only left with one democratic option; and that was to show protest by boycotting the elections, to the whole world, that the Tamils do not believe that either party would grant the legitimate right of self rule to the people of North East.

Tamils of North East did that successfully and showed their protest to the whole world.

When we look back today at the decision, the people of North East were 100% correct. Both UNP and UFPA together have violated the Indo Lanka Accord in the demerger of North East and participated in the “illegal” Provincial Council elections. They are working together to subjugate the people of North East more and more and deny self rule to Tamils in the North East..