TNA candidates intimidated by Army

by Our Jaffna correspondent-2013-07-30

Two candidates of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), had been intimidated by the Army, soon after they had filed their nominations yesterday, to contest the Northern Provincial Council polls.

TNA Spokesperson and Jaffna District Parliamentarian, Suresh K. Premachandran told Ceylon Today, that Army personnel had gone to the residences of S. Sayanthan, a TNA candidate from Chavakachcheri, and Ananthi Sasitharan, the wife of the LTTE's former Trincomalee political wing leader, Elilan, and had questioned them on their political activities.

"This is a gross violation of election laws. Even President Mahinda Rajapakse promised our Leader, R. Sampanthan, that he would ensure a free and fair polls in the Northern Province (NP), without any interference from security forces personnel, whereas soon after nominations were filed yesterday, the Army had behaved contrary to expectations by intimidating two TNA candidates contesting the NP polls.

This is ridiculous. We have brought the issue to the notice of the Commissioner of Elections, and our Leader, R. Sampanthan, who is furious over the two separate incidents, will lodge a complaint with the President as well. We will also take up the issue with the diplomatic circle in Colombo," Premachandran said.