News vom 14.11.2005

[Hänschen]

Presidential candidates address their final rallies today

Nov 14, Colombo: The final election rallies are now being held in several parts of the country, with the two main parties, the UNP and SLFP, holding election rallies at Borella and Maradana.

The SLFP’s final rally started at Campbell Park amidst tight security, and presidential candidate Mahinda Rajapaksa will address the rally in the late evening. All party leaders who are backing the Premier were to attend the rally.


United States reiterates commitment to peaceful resolution of the Sri Lanka conflict

Nov 14, Colombo: United States Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead today reiterated that his country remains committed to the peaceful resolution of conflict and the strengthening of democratic processes in Sri Lanka.

The Ambassador made this comment after announcing that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide $132,500 in grants to the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) and the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV).

The Ambassador said, “The people of Sri Lanka are justifiably proud of the strong democratic traditions in this country. Our support for election monitoring will assist Sri Lankans to promote transparency and accountability, while ensuring all citizens have an opportunity to choose the future leadership of their country.”

He said the US will support the efforts of Sri Lankan civil society organizations to monitor and report on the 2005 presidential election in order to help ensure a free and fair poll on November 17.

The funding will be used to support the training and deployment of election monitors, evaluation of media coverage of the campaign, and administration and management of this nationwide program.

Thousands of armed personnel provide security blanket for Sri Lanka election

Nov 14, Colombo: Thousands of security forces personnel have been deployed in the country, especially in Colombo and its suburbs, to prevent any suicide attacks by the Tigers against the main presidential candidates.
Special Army task teams are standing by to meet any emergency situation and leave has been cancelled for all security forces personnel and police. A special security blanket has been launched to cover the entire country, police said.

http://www.lankapage.com/

 

[srilanka1998]

Sri Lankans rally behind opposing peace plans amid bombing fears on last day of campaign
[ AP ] [ 12:21 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Sri Lanka's main presidential candidates Monday offered opposing visions for peace with Tamil Tiger rebels on the last day of campaigning, as security officials braced for a feared repeat of previous election rally suicide bombings. Both hawkish Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and dovish opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe were scheduled to address at least five rallies each, mainly in the Sinhalese-majority south, ahead of their final meetings in the capital Colombo amid tight security. "We have deployed maximum security for both meetings," said police spokesman Rienzie Perera. Election laws stipulate that all campaigning must stop 48 hours ahead of Thursday's poll to elect Sri Lanka's fifth executive president.


S.Lanka gives sci-fi legend Clarke highest award
[ Reuters ] [ 12:23 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Sri Lanka awarded long-term resident and British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke its highest civilian award on Monday for his contributions to science and technology and his commitment to his adopted country. Born in England in 1917, Clarke first came to the island in the 1950s for diving and said he became a resident after he "fell in love with the place." Presidential aide Eric Fernando said it was very unusual for a foreigner to receive the award. "He is an honorary citizen of Sri Lanka," Fernando said before the ceremony, presided over by outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga. "He is receiving it because of what he has achieved globally in the field of science and technology."


After tsunami, Sri Lanka gets phone warning system
[ Reuters ] [ 12:24 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Next time a disaster such as a tsunami strikes Sri Lanka, officials say they hope to use text messages and the mobile phone system to give people the crucial few minutes warning they need to seek safety. The Dec. 26 tsunami struck Sri Lanka hours after it hit Thailand, but no warning was issued and even if it had been, many poor villagers would not have heard it. Within weeks, mobile phone operator Dialog Telekom says it was working on ways to solve the problem. "If we go back to Dec. 26, many lessons were learnt," Dialog chief executive Hans Wijayasuriya said at the launch of the mobile phone-based warning system on Monday. "You can convert a mobile phone into a powerful alarm device."


Sri Lankan children differ on how to best achieve peace in their homeland
[ AP ] [ 12:24 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

The vast majority of Sri Lankan children want an end to the war that has long plagued their Indian Ocean nation, but differ on how to achieve peace, according to a survey released Monday. Sri Lankans vote Thursday in an election that is being viewed as a referendum on the peace process with the Tamil Tiger rebels, but the survey of children found that only 36 percent support direct talks with the insurgents. About 47 percent would rather see individuals try to build links among each other and maintain peace, the survey found, although it did not detail how such a relatively vague proposal could be carried out.


Sri Lanka tightens security as poll campaign wraps up
[ Reuters ] [ 13:29 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Sri Lanka's police beefed up security on Monday after the bodyguard of a minister opposed to the Tamil Tigers was shot dead and presidential candidates wound up their final day of campaigning ahead of a Nov. 17 vote. Additional security patrols were on standby in Colombo, where the main candidates, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, were to give final campaign speeches behind bullet-proof glass booths after whirlwind tours of the island. "We have intensified security, mostly in urban areas," police spokesman Rienzie Perera told Reuters. "But the violence is very much less (than during previous elections)."


Expulsion of Jaffna Muslims: The Attributable Motive
[ Illangai Thamizh Sangam ] [ 13:59 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

I digress a little from the main theme of this series, to focus attention on the recent news coverage of Tuan Nizam Muthaliff and Tuan Rizli Meedin. But, the activities of Muslims represented by Muthaliff and Meedin (on behalf of the Sri Lankan army) provide a counter-point to the premise of D.B.S.Jeyaraj that the LTTE was unusually harsh on Jaffna Muslims in 1990. It is also not irrelevant to the issue of how the LTTE was forced by the then circumstances to treat the Muslims with a suspicious eye. One of the unmentionables in the commentaries and analyses of anti-LTTE pundits, including Jeyaraj, is the anti-Tamil role of Muslims in the Sri Lankan armed forces - not that a general population should suffer for the acts of individuals.


"The People Do Not See Any Difference Between the Candidates"
[ TIME ] [ 14:23 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

We are not at all concerned about the election. Our experience of both parties is that if at all they speak of the Tamil national question, it is only because they want votes. Their performances after the elections are very dismal. A sense of apathy prevails. People are not bothered by the election or the outcome. They do not see any difference between the candidates. We cannot say definitely that the situation will transform into a war. But the people are the judges. It is people's power that dictates to us. Their democratic protests in recent months, their uprisings, have been met with military violence. It makes people think the government is more inclined towards war. And if the people's power is crushed by military oppression, then definitely the people will transform themselves into a force that cannot be controlled in a democratic manner. It is up to the Sri Lankan government as to whether they let this escalation go on.


Halo Trust violates workers rights, striking employees say
[ TamilNet ] [ 16:27 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Workers at Halo trust, a British charity engaged in mine clearing work in Jaffna for the past five years, went on strike to protest the dismissal of four workers without warning. More than one hundred workers picketed in front of the Halo trust vehicle park located on Temple road near Nallur, Jaffna, from 9 a.m. Monday sources said.The Workers demanded that their four collegues be immediately reinstated and their employment contract be amended to ensure that basic workers rights are not violated. Halo trust employees also complained that some of the workers injured during demining activities were not medically taken care of and that workers should be provided with insurance to cover medical expenses due to work related injuries.


The Political Ideology in Sri Lanka: Anti-Tamil
[ TamilCanadian ] [ 16:32 GMT, Nov. 14, 2005 ]

Recent revelations have confirmed that there may be several political parties in the Sinhala South, but only one ideology - being anti-Tamil. There is the right wing United National Party (UNP), the supposedly socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the so-called 'Marxist' Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Marxists of yester-year, the Lanka Sama Samaga Party (LSSP), the political party of not-so-clean-shaven men in yellow robes, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), and many more of their ilk. In reality they are all different names for one party policy - anti-Tamil. The only difference between these parties is the degree of their 'anti-Tamilness. Every one of these parties, without exception, tries to outdo each other in their 'anti-Tamilness' to secure the electoral support of the Sinhala majority, which they hope will propel them to political power (the passport to mega-corruption in Sri Lanka).