Sri Lanka Holds Post-war Polls in Northern Towns

Colombo: Large numbers of Tamils in north-eastern Sri Lankan towns of Jaffna and Vavuniya, once dominated by the LTTE, on Saturday turned up at the voting stations to exercise their franchise in the local body elections, held for the first time in a decade.

Enthusiastic voters were seen standing in large queues outside polling stations in Vavuniya and Jaffna, which was the political and cultural capital of the Tamil Tigers till it was captured by the Army in the late 1990s.

Around 40 percent of voters exercised their franchise in Jaffna, over 60 percent polling was reported in both Vavuniya after voting ended at 1600 hours. Elections to councils in central Uva province were also held today.

Barring minor incidents, the polling passed off peacefully, according to an election monitoring body.

Both Jaffna and Vavuniya are located just outside Wanni which was captured from the LTTE in May by Sri Lankan forces which also killed the outfit’s chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Police said the peace prevailed in all areas of voting with no untoward incidents being reported.

The results of the elections are expected after midnight tonight.

The voting is seen as a test of popularity of President Mahinda Rajapaksa after his crushing victory over the LTTE.

The Wanni local leaders of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) led by V Anandasangaree have pledged support to the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) candidates in the Vavuniya UC polls.

The main contenders to the UPFA in the Urban council polls are candidates from its constituent Tamil party EPDP led by Minister Douglas Devananda, allies All Ceylon Muslim Congress.

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Sri Lanka Holds Post-war Polls in Northern Towns