DailyMirror.lk:
Poll on March 17 – 48 nomination papers by main parties rejected
The highest number of rejections of nomination papers filed by mainstream political parties at an election was recorded yesterday with as many as 48 nomination papers being declared unacceptable by the Elections Commissioner due to procedural errors.
The Elections Department stopped accepting nominations for the local government elections at 9.00 am yesterday, and announced March 17 as the day of polling.
The most significant was the rejection of the nomination lists tendered by the UPFA (which is backed by Minister Douglas Devananda) for all 16 local government bodies in the Jaffna district.
Mr Devananda said that the nomination papers were rejected due to a translation error. He said that the party had been identified as a ‘front’ rather than an ‘alliance’ in the nomination paper in the Tamil version.
The UPFA and UNP yesterday handed over nominations for the local government bodies in the Colombo District. Seen here are Ministers Susil Premajayantha, Wimal Weerawansa and UNP MP Wijedasa Rajapaksa walking out of the Elections Secretariat in Rajagiriya after handing nominations. Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana
The UPFA nomination paper for the Nuwara-Eliya Pradeshiya Sabha was turned down due to a discrepancy in the number of candidates to be fielded. Also in the same district, the UPFA list for the Lindula –Talawakele Urban Council was rejected.
These two local bodies are considered the political strongholds of the Ceylon Workers Congress led by Minister Arumugam Thondaman. He fielded candidates for the election under the betel leaf symbol of the UPFA this time.
The nomination lists of both the UNP and the UPFA for the Embilipitiya Urban Council were declared unacceptable, leaving the JVP as the main contender in the area at the forthcoming elections.
Also, the nomination lists filed by the UPFA for the Rajangane and Galnewa Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Anuradhapura district were nullified by the elections office as the party had failed to get the papers properly attested by a justice of the peace as required by the election laws.
In the Kurunegala District, the UPFA had its nomination list for the Polgahawela PS rejected. The UPFA nomination lists were also rejected in the Polonnaruwa district (for the Hingurakgoda PS), in the Matale District (for the Pallepola and Wilgamuwa Pradeshiya Sabhas) and in the Galle district (for the Akmeemana Pradeshiya Sabha).
The UPFA had a similar experience in the Moneragala District, where nomination papers for the Pradeshiya Sabhas of Moneragala and Siyambalanduwa were rejected.
In the Kandy District, the UPFA nomination papes for the Yatinuwara Pradeshiya Sabha were rejected because of an error in the name of the party. The party had been referred in the papers as the ‘United People’s Alliance’ instead of ‘United People’s Freedom Alliance’.
The Chilaw Urban Council and the Navagattegama and Wennappuwa Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Puttalam District were the other areas where the UPFA’s nomination papers were rejected.
Meanwhile, the nomination lists of the main opposition UNP were rejected for the Homagama Municipal Council in the Colombo District, the Welikanda and Elahera Pradeshiya Sabhas of the Polonnaruwa District, the Baddegama PS in Galle District, the Warakapola PS of the Kegalle District, the Weligepola PS of the Ratnapura District and the Eravur Urban Council in the Batticaloa District.
Of nomination lists of the JVP, those filed for the Wilgamuwa PS in the Matale District and the Naththandiya PS in the Puttalam District were rejected.
In the Kilinochchi District, the TNA nomination lists for the Poonekary PS and the Pachchilaipalli PS had been rejected as the authorised agent of the party had failed to obtain the signature of a Justice of the Peace placed on the nomination papers.
The SLMC nomination lists for the Akurana PS in the Kandy District, the Ukuwela PS in the Matale District, the Mawathagama PS in the Kurunegala District, the Minuwangoda and Attanagalle PS in the Gampaha District and Madyama Nuwaragam Palatha known as Manupa in the Anuradhapura District were also rejected.
In addition to the main political parties’ lists, the elections office also rejected hundreds of nomination papers filed by various independent groups. However, the Elections Department cited its inability to release accurate information about the total number of political parties and independent groups in the fray and the number of candidates contesting.
“We have received hundreds of nomination papers. We have to scrutinise every paper for details such as names, Identity Card numbers and whether they have been attested by justices of the peace or attesting commissioners.” said Deputy Commissioner of Elections Mahinda Desapriya.
However, elections monitors say that there will be well over 30,000 candidates in the fray this year.
A senior minister, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mirror: “It was unprecedented that the candidates openly clashed with senior officials and ministers of the party as never before. Many of them got together ultimately and submitted their nominations as an independent group. This has contributed to an increase in the number of independent groups. I learned that this was the situation with other major parties as well,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Yatiyana Pushpakumara, Sugathapala Mendis, Sumanasiri Gunatilaka, Shelton Hettiarachchi, Athula Bandara, Jude Samantha and J.A.L. Jayasinghe)