(Lanka-e-News, 2008 March 04, 11.00PM) The election for the Batticaloa Municipal Council and eight other local governmental bodies of the district are ahead of six days. UNP and some civil organizations anticipate that this election will not be a free and fair one since the Pillaiyan Group that is contesting under TMVP is armed.

The aim of the Lanka-e-News Batticaloa tour was to observe the situation there. We have already posted discussions with the main political groups and hope you have read them.

Let us analyze the political situation in Batticaloa. The town of Batticaloa was never under LTTE rule. But the areas away from the city were under its rule. The majority of the LTTE joined with Karuna when he broke away from the organization. LTTE lost the Eastern Province due to joint operations of the Army and the Karuna cadres. Batticaloa residents say that although there can still be around 200 LTTE cadres, they can only do spying and similar tasks and cannot launch major attacks. Karuna cadres formed a political party in the name TMVP and Pillaiyan captured power in it after Karuna� s expatriation.

Who are these TMVPers? They are the same ex-LTTE cadres. The major leaders of the TMVP are long time operators of state intelligence. They are supporting the government with the hope that the they will be given overall powers. The government has to grant them some powers actually and the election has been called for that objective.

An important aspect of this election is the failed attempt of the groups like TMVP, PLOTE, EPDP and EPRLF to contest under one umbrella and TMVP� s separation from the group. It can be a strategy of the government. Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is contesting in a coalition with TMVP to the Batticaloa Municipal Council but there is only one candidate of the SLFP in the list. It clearly shows that the government wants the TMVP to come to power. In other words, an armed group that previously fought against the state is being ushered to power in democratic means. The opponents EPDP, EPRLF amd PLOTE are also supporting the government.

No violence can be expected since the government is contesting against the government in the election. Still, only 29 incidents of violence have been recorded.

We do not see any fault in holding elections after 17 years and granting powers to Tamils. Colombo based UNP politicians and NGOs that are in certain agendas say that the people of Batticaloa have not asked for an election. We did not observe such aspect and we witnessed that people were eagerly looking forward to the election.

For instance, we met people of eight villages in Vakaneri division. They said that no child had opportunity for education during the 20 years they spent under LTTE rule. There were unschooled children of 16 years of age among them. There were around 250 such children among the villagers.

The villagers have kept trust on Pillaiyan. They eagerly said that they would support Pillaiyan to achieve power for them. They said that they were in utmost difficulty under LTTE rule.

The story of the villagers of the Kurukkalmadam we visited is another eye-opening example. The villagers who were under LTTE rule for around 20 years said that the whole village was supporting the UNP. Four of them had gone to Batticaloa stealthily to vote to Ranil at the past Presidential that was boycotted by the LTTE. They are keen to vote now since the LTTE is no more there. They say they will vote to Pillaiyan since the UNP is boycotting the election.

This is the truth that the Colombo based politicians are blind to see. The picture created in Colombo is the armed groups roaming in vehicles for campaigning. However, it is not so in Batticaloa. They say that the people of Batticaloa are in fear to express their views. It is also a lie. It can be so because the people go from Colombo do not speak Tamil. Nevertheless, if one goes with one who speaks Tamil very well, they will freely express their views.

The Batticaloa devil is not as black as the Colombo people portray it. There are threats from Minister Amir Ali`s supporters to the Muslim Congress loyalists. Pillaiyan� s cadres have also carried out intimidations in Muslim areas. People are in fear that LTTE will perform some drastic action a day prior to the election. It is no different from the uncertainty spread all over the country.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader said yesterday (03) that the election would not be free and fair. He called to unite to win a free and fair election.

The Opposition Leader`s speech raises several questions. How can one win a free and fair election while boycotting elections? UNP`s boycott has made the Batticaloa UNPers helpless. The UNP has not comprehended the transition of an armed group into democratic politics. Thus, UNP has earned the distrust of that armed group.

Security forces members guard the road from Manampitiya to Batticaloa positioning in places in the distance one can see the other. There are checkpoints in every 100 meters in Batticaloa. They cannot be removed although they get in the way of the civil life. Is the UNP alluring the truth that the people of the area have to be empowered to remove those barriers? Does it not think that the UNP� s duty of the day is urging the government to grant all powers including police and land rights to the Provincial Council to be set up in the Eastern Province?

On the other hand, have there ever been ideal free and fair elections? Have we forgotten that the political parties that contested in some past elections were armed since the JVP was armed? Has the JVP surrendered their arms to date? Everybody knows about EPDP. Ideal elections are not bad. But, what is wrong with some kind of democratic air opening for a people that did not receive anything for a period more than 20 years?

The government manipulated the traditional conflict between the Jaffna and Batticaloa Tamils to chase the LTTE from the East. However, the people of the Eastern Province say that they have sacrificed 30,000 lives for this war. It is not difficult to imagine the situation that will arise if the government fails to make the breakaway LTTE faction join the governing and if they fall into disgust again. We think that the government and the opposition should not put the Eastern Province for their political gambling. They should get into the shoes of the people that did not have anything for almost two decades when attempting to seek solutions for the problems.

Photos and report by
Sandaruwan Senadheera