by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The president will spend at least 3 days in Kilinochchi & Jaffna districts this week & invigorate the United Peoples Freedom Alliance campaign
President wants to uplift “socially” underprivileged sections of Tamil society. They will be given priority in land,housing & job allocations
Elections in the North will be held to 16 local authorities in Jaffna district;3 in Kilinochchi district & 1 in Mullaitheevu district
Eelam Peoples Democratic party (EPDP) leader & cabinet minister Douglas Devananda is in overall charge of the Northern province UPFA campaign.
In a bid to captivate voters the bearded,bespectacled, verti-clad Douglas Devananda is riding a bicycle &engaging in election propaganda
The EPDP is contesting under the UPFA betel symbol & not its own Veena symbol. Most of the UPFA candidates however are EPDP nominees
Economic affairs minister &presidential sibling Basil Rajapaksa is focusing on Jaffna district & directing propaganda operations there
Presidential offspring &MP Namal Rajapaksa is focusing on Kilinochchi where his father will lay foundation stone for Rs 325m sports stadium
About 25 to 35 ministers&influential MP’s are involved in the campaign on a rotational basis.Efforts will intensify final week before polls
Several ministers have made announcements about various development projects the Govt will start in the north if the people vote for UPFA
Measures fulfilling long standing grievances of Tamil people are also being implemented. Restrictions on Northern fishermen have been removed
Internal Displaced Persons camps are being rapidly dismantled & IDP’s are being forcibly re-settled without adequate facilities&arrangements
High Security zones are being downsized. Some if not all People are being given their lands back& asked to resettle in their original homes
Defence ministry clearance for Tamil expatriates to travel North has been relaxed.Passengers can get into Jaffna bound buses in Wellawatte!!
Many hand outs&freebies are being lavishly distributed to voters. These range from cycles, cookers, lamps,water pumps,clothes & arrack bottles
The TNA has complained to Elections commissioner that announcements by ministers & distribution of free goods are violating the election laws
Most cut -out hoardings& posters are for UPFA candidates in north & as TNA posters are torn down by gangs of Sinhala&Tamil gangs in White vans
Canvassing by Tamil national alliance is also low key due to various acts of terror being perpetrated against individual TNA candidates
In a blatant violation of election laws EPDP activists went to govt offices on postal voting day & flagrantly distributed pro-govt leaflets
Govt employees were also warned by EPDP activists that they must support govt or else face consequences as they could be easily identified
It appears that the UPFA is determined to win the local authority polls & demonstrate to the world that the Tamil people are with the govt
Given the determined effort by the Govt to win at the northern local polls fears have been expressed about free & fair polling on election day
This is a bundle of tweets posted on twitter by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
DBS Jeyaraj can be reached on dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com
