Colombo: Over a year after liberating the
northern region from the LTTE, Sri Lanka plans to hold early
elections to local bodies in the region dominated by minority
Tamils.
Riding high on his re-election as President and his
Freedom Party-led alliance getting elected for a second
consecutive term, Mahinda Rajapaksa is planning to hold early
polls in the once embattled northern Sri Lanka.
"The Government will restore democracy in the North by
conducting local government elections shortly," Basil
Rajapaksa, the President`s brother and cabinet minister, said.
"This opportunity will allow northerners to elect
their representatives to the local bodies as in other
regions," the Economic Development Minister said.
Northern Sri Lanka is dominated by minority Tamils and
the entire region was liberated from the Tamil Tigers in May
2009 following the death of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Basil was speaking after inaugurating the Vavuniya-
Chunnakkam electricity transmission line in Kilinochchi
yesterday.
"Local Government elections would consolidate
democratic rights of the northerners in the aftermath of the
war," he was quoted as saying by the state-run Daily News.
The Government`s greatest challenge is the management
of post-development activities, Rajapaksa said adding despite
the challenges the development drive in the north has been
accelerated to uplift the livelihood of the people in the
region.
PTI
