Freebies galore as candidates cosy up to voters

Thousands lack ID cards to vote but applications 'being fast-tracked'

Distribution of water containers, sewing machines, plastic chairs and water pumps has become a regular sight in drought-hit Monragala, one of the two districts preparing for the next month’s provincial elections. Almost all items distributed contained stickers of named candidates making it clear that they were expecting votes in return of the goods distributed.

The situation was similar but on a lesser scale in the Badulla district.

Posters have been put up in all parts of the district; party symbols and candidates’ numbers are being drawn on trees, stones, public roads, bridges and walls in contravention of election law.

As the campaigning picked up a week after nominations closed, election monitors revealed that nearly 70,000 eligible voters were minus a valid identity card to cast their votes.

Election monitoring body the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) said its survey showed a significant number of people in Uva lacked valid identity cards, needed to cast a vote.

CaFFe Director Keerthi Tennakoon said most of these people were Indian-origin plantation workers in Badulla in remote villages.

“We hope to begin a series of free mobile clinics to facilitate the issue of National Identity Cards and Special Identification Documents by the Department of Elections to the 40, 350 eligible voters in Badulla district without identity cards,” he said.

The first mobile clinic will be held on August 19 at Uva Paranagama. Other clinics will be held at Ella on August 20, Bandarawela on August 21 and 22 and Haputale on August 23.

Mr. Tennakoon said there were no major violations recorded among the 19 complaints of election violations reported to date.

In Monaragala district 28,000 eligible voters, mostly elderly people, were currently unable to vote without valid identification documents, said District Secretary A. Patthinathan.

The Commissioner General of Department of Registration of Persons, R.M.S. Sarath Kumara, said applications for identity cards were being fasttracked.

“We have received 15,000 applications and are currently processing 10,000 of these. We are expecting to finalise applications by the end of this month,” he said.

Commissioner Kumara said his officers had set up mobile centers to issue identity cards in the districts with financial assistance from CaFFE.

He said cards could not be issued without an application being made, and people should make applications.

“Everyone is worried about people who do not have the documents to vote but how can I issue the identity cards if they do not apply?” he asked.

The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said the whole province was plastered with posters, banners and other propaganda material. It had received 20 complaints from the two districts.

“The election commissioner has allocated funds to police to remove these materials,” a police spokesman said.

JVP former parliamentarian and a candidate for the upcoming Uva elections Ramalingam Chandrasekaran said the government was using all its resources to win this election.

“In the past 66 years there were no significant major development schemes in the province. Now the government has allocated millions of money to develop infrastructure and other sectors to make sure their candidates survive,” he said.

Mr Chandrasekaran said last week in Kottagala a former council member, Senthil Thondaman, had promised the youth in the area government jobs, particularly teaching assistant posts.

“What we ask the people to do is to get whatever the ruling politicians are giving them but cast their vote for us to make sure of a better life,” he said.

The JVP planned to conduct 500 gatherings and rallies in the province.

Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) candidate Senthil Thondaman denied using the teaching assistance appointments as