MP assassinated
RATNAPURA Peoples’ Alliance (PA) MP Nalanda Ellawala, 29, was assassinated at Kuruwita, 55 miles south-east of Colombo, on 11 February in the run up to local elections scheduled for 21 March. A bodyguard was also killed and five others were injured.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of Ratnapura United National Party (UNP) MP Susantha Punchinilame and former Mayor Mahinda Ratnatilleke who were present at the scene of the crime. Both were suspended from the UNP and later surrendered to the police. A case against Mr Punchinilame for the murder of three people in 1989 is still pending.
Despite a curfew, thousands of PA supporters let loose their fury in Ratnapura the following day, setting fire to shops and houses. Violence flared again after Mr Ellawala’s funeral on 15 February. Two people were killed and over 100 wounded.
PA and UNP supporters have continued to clash for several months. In September last year five UNP members were shot dead in Negombo. By end of February local agency the Campaign Against Violence had recorded over 500 violent incidents. As further fighting was anticipated, a worried Parliament Speaker KB Ratnayake summoned an emergency meeting of political party leaders in late February, to discuss return of weapons issued to politicians for their protection. Police say some 1,800 weapons still remain to be recovered.
Two local agencies the People’s Alliance for Free and Fair Elections and the Movement for Free and Fair Elections are currently training some 5,000 election monitors. Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe has called for international monitoring, but reports say the government is unlikely to allow monitors from outside. Visas for representatives from the US-based National Democratic Institute have been denied.
The local elections would be a litmus test for the proposed referendum on the devolution proposals and there is a scramble for minority votes. In mid-March the Plantation party the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) announced that the government had agreed to give ownership of 200,000 estate line room houses to the occupant workers. Reports say ceremonial handing over of ownership title deeds have taken place in Nuwara Eliya. Certificates issued two years ago later proved to be worthless pieces of paper. People say this is another vote-grabbing exercise.
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