Colombo: Sri Lanka will hold provincial
elections this year in the war-ravaged north as it braces to
devolve power to the region`s predominantly Tamil population.
"The 13th Amendment to the Constitution provides us
with a framework to devolve power. We have set up the
Provincial Council in the Eastern Province and it is
functioning.
By the middle of this year (2010) we will hold
elections to the Northern Provincial Council," the ruling Sri
Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) General Secretary and Agriculture
Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.
"Once this council is in operation, we will monitor
its functioning and if there are any drawbacks we will bring
about necessary measures to address them," the senior ruling
party leader said.
Even President J R Jayewardene who introduced the PC
system could not implement it properly in the north," he said.
By mid 2010, we will hold the PC elections there and
then we will take the necessary steps to address the
shortcomings, Sirisena told the Sunday Times in an interview.
On whether the campaign of common opposition
Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka was gaining ground for
the 26 January Presidential polls, Sirisena dismissed it as a
"bankrupt one".
Sirisena claimed the incumbent President Mahinda
Rajapaksa will get more than 65 percent of the polled votes.
On whether state funds were being used for
entertaining people by the President on the eve of the
elections, he said it was not correct.
"This is not true. Not even five cents from state
funds is used for this purpose. This is political mudslinging.
These functions are being paid for by the election
funds of our party.
This is being used as a campaign slogan by the
opposition to tarnish the image of the President (Mahinda
Rajapaksa)," he said.
PTI
