Thousands Of IDPs Could Not Vote Due To Transport Hitches
By Nirmala Kannangara
Lack of transport has kept away thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from casting their vote at Tuesday’s presidential election. According to PAFFREL Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi, proper transport facilities were not available for the IDPs to go to the polling booths on the 26th morning.
“Although it was said that necessary transport facilities would be provided for the IDPs to go to the polling stations which were 25km – 40km away, transport was not provided in the morning, but after the Elections Commissioner intervened, transport was provided.
However, the Election Chief’s intervention did not help the voters because when they arrived at the respective polling stations, it was past 4 p.m, Hettiarachchi claimed.
When asked about whether the lack of identity cards was another factor that prevented the IDPs from exercising their franchise, Hettiarachchi said that although there were considerable numbers of displaced persons without IDs, the obstacle to their voting was the lack of transport.
Meanwhile, CaFFE Spokesperson Keerthi Tennakoon told The Sunday Leader that the lack of transport was the sole reason that the IDPs gave up voting, and added that around 45 polling centers in Killinochchi and Vavuniya were seen empty throughout election day. “Transport was not provided as promised by the government to the IDPs,” Tennakoon said.
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Really? Were you there to report this? What importance has it? Do you think that SF might have got few more votes, if the IDPs went to vote? Why couldn’t you transport them to polling booths? How do you think the citizen in the South come to vote? By bus? walking? Oh, come on, girl!
The people of the North were recently rescued from the LTTE after they were bombed with them when Prabha used them as human shields. They don’t have anything. They are living in the camps with no money, or food except food from NGOs given by government. The North is also not developed area like South. There are no roads as they were bombed by Gov or LTTE.
Understand the predicament.
The IDP held in camps are fed my the INGO and foregin govt not the GOSL.
So it’s the INGOs and the foreign govts fault that they didn’t get to vote? The government promised transportation on that day. If you have any doubts call the EC office and ask. They are the ones that gave that promise.
Think, there are ways to get information besides TV and newspaper. I have learnt that from experience.
By the way the IDPs didn’t choose to live the way they are now. The government played a major role in that. The government should take care of their basic needs like medical, transportation, food and also voting rights. Looks like they are going to loose medical assistance too for their willingness to support Sarath Fonseka.
The EC promised transportation. Even the government talked about it. Yes all of them would have voted for SF. That’s the reason the government had the buses stopped on election day. And that proves how the IDPs were treated. If the IDPs were treated well why suppress the their vote?
Do you have an answer to why some bombs went off in Jaffna? Do you think to suppress their votes to like 26%?
And why do you assume the Tamils would have voted for SF now and before the election. SF’s team must be doing something right to win the minority vote.
The government is did petty things to get votes. Feeding thousands at Temple Trees and BMICH, cut outs bigger than buildings, harassing of the opposition, state media supporting the incumbent 98% and playing the race card that LTTE supports UNP alliance to garner votes from the Singhalese are not the way to win an election.
And NO! the government didn’t win the election. Keep your head in the sand and dream on. Watch more state media.
Why do you think SF was confined to that Hotel when the EC was announcing the results at the EC office? SF had a right to protest/object to the results before the EC so he was prevented from doing so.
Be happy. You won. Now go teach your kids to disregard that old adage “Winning doesn’t matter it’s how you play the game”.
Hilarious! I am glad we have some jokers in the midst of all this!!
aaawwwwwwwwwwwwww how inconvenient !!!!!!!
The army, backed by Devananda commandeered all buses and let them go too late in the day.This appears in other media too.A million polling cards were not delivered.All this was planned sabotage.
WITH ALL WHAT DEVANANDA DID, IN THE “VIOLENCE” ON ELECTION MORNING AND DEPRIVING THE VOTERS OF THE TRANSPORT PROMISED,
THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH AND VANNI VOTED FOR SARATH FONSEKA.
DEVANANDA BETTER QUIT BEFORE HE IS “KICKED OUT” BY THE PRESIDENT.
Thousands Of IDPs cannot return to their homes to live in peace. Will they care who gets elected? In their eyes, both are equally evil.