Rifts, omissions, disappointments: Last-minute dramas before nominations
Newly formed alliances, breakaway groups coming forward as independent contestants and unwilling women being fielded as candidates to meet the 25 percent female representation requirement were among the highlights of the local council nominations that closed on Thursday.
With the upcoming elections being held, for the first time, under a mixed election system of first-past-the-post and proportional representation and the amended local council elections act, political parties were preparing their lists until the final hours on Thursday. In the process, many lists had minor mistakes, leading to their rejection.
The nomination lists were rejected in respect of some councils, as they were not handed over by an authorised person.
A significant feature is that more than 50 percent of the candidates for the 93 councils, for which nominations closed on Thursday, were first timers, among them women. The amended law insists that at least 25 percent of the elected members should be women.
Rifts among party members over nominations were reported from various parts of the country.
A prominent UPFA member who was expecting to contest under the newly formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) decided to contest as an independent candidate for the Lindula-Thalawakele Urban Council, following a rift with 'Joint Opposition' frontline Parliamentarian C.B. Ratnayaka.
Disagreements over nominations also caused splits within the main Tamil political front -the Tamil National Alliance, whose members contest on the 'House' symbol of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) or the Federal Party, the main constituent party of the alliance.
As a result of a dispute between two Chavakachcheribased politicians, the ITAK was forced to include the name of a driver in the nomination list for the Chavakachcheri Urban Council. He was accompanying party officials to the election office.
Talks to resolve the rift between Northern Provincial Councillor K. Sayanthan and area politician K. Arunthavabalan failed on Thursday because both insisted their supporters be given nominations.
A last ditch effort was made at the ITAK area office to bring the two politicians to an agreement just hours before nominations closed, but the talks ended up in a heated argument between the two factions.
With the Arunthavabalan faction storming out of the office, the driver who works for a party official was asked to sign the nomination paper at the last minute.
In the battle for some key councils, heavyweights are in the fray. For the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council, the United National Party has fielded former Mayor Chandana Lal Karunaratna while the 'JO'backed SLPP is fielding former UPFA Mayor Mahinda Kumara Dodampagamage. The UPFA team, backed by President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is being led by newcomer R.R.M.K. Ratnayaka. The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) is fielding a team led by former member Ramanathan Balakrishanan.
In the East, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader and deputy minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, filed nomination papers for the Valachchenai Pradeshiya Sabha, leading an independent group.
Two ITAK nomination papers for the Aliadiwembbu PS and Samanthurai PS were rejected as the candidates handed over the lists after the nominations closed. This was because they were waiting for the arrival of the authorised party official -- Digamadulla's TNA Parliamentarian A.K. Kodeeswaran.
Among those disappointed was journalist turned politician S. Jayanandamoorthy. Ending an eight-year self-imposed exile in Britain, he returned to Sri Lanka last year with the intention of contesting local elections, but his nomination from the Tamil United Liberation Front for the Valachchenai Pradeshiya Sabha was rejected.
The Thamil Makkal Viduthali Puligal (TMVP) led by Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan, now in custody in connection with the assassination of former TNA Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham, has fielded candidates to two Batticaloa district Pradeshiya Sabhas.
Meanwhile, political parties are preparing to finalise nomination lists for the remaining 248 councils. Nominations will be accepted from tomorrow until December 18.
The UNP is expected to field former Parliamentarian Rosy Senanayake as its mayoral candidate for the key Colombo Municipal Council. The SLPP and the UPFA are yet to announce their mayoral candidates.
Meanwhile, Election monitoring groups have stepped up their campaign to ensure a free and fair election.
The March 12 Movement, spearheaded by civic action groups and polls monitors, has also called on political parties to field candidates with a good track record.
They said parties or independent groups should pick candidates who have not served jail terms or received suspended sentences for crimes. They called for the selection of candidates who have not been found guilty of bribery or corruption. The candidates, they said, should be acceptable to society and be of good character.
The civic action groups said that the candidates should not be persons who are engaging or had engaged in the past in trades such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, casinos and prostitution. They should not be persons who are engaging or had engaged in trade which destroys the ecological life support system.