The following is a letter sent to Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake, The Commissioner of Elections

URGENT

Mr. Dayananda Dissanayake,
The Commissioner of Elections,
Colombo.

Dear Mr. Dissanayake,

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), having fielded teams of mobile election monitors as well as monitors in many of the polling stations throughout the north and east on election day November 17 2005 strongly feels that the environment that prevailed during the election campaign and on Election Day in the north and east were not conducive to the conduct of a free and fair election.

There are two separate situations that we would like to address in this regard.

In the North, the major issue was that of intimidation of voters through diverse means including the distribution of posters and leaflets that aggressively discouraged people from going to the polls. This led to the total turn out of the polls in the Jaffna District, for example, being as low as 1.5% of the total number of registered voters.

In the East, too, persons from areas under LTTE control were denied access to the transport – buses and ferries – that had been made available by the government in order to enable them to travel to the cluster polling stations set up in government-controlled areas.

However, in addition, there were acts of violence that took place on the night prior to elections sand throughout election day that terrorized and intimidated people from going to the polls.

Among the most serious incidents are:

- a grenade thrown at the TRO office on Bar Road, Batticaloa at 6.30 a.m. on the 16th;
- a Muslim civilian shot and injured at Pandirippu, Kalmunai at about 7 p.m. on the 16th;
- Alhaj Ahmed Lebbe of Kalmunai shot and killed in Kalmunai town on the night of the 16th;
- Albert Gunaratnam of Trincomalee shot and injured in Trincomalee on the night of the 16th;
- a grenade thrown at the Iruthayapuram polling station in Batticaloa at 8.30 p.m. on the night of the 16th; 3 soldiers injured;
- a grenade thrown at Kulaiwadikolani polling station in Batticaloa at 8.30 p.m. on the night of the 16th; one soldier and one policeman injured;
- a grenade thrown at Palaimeendmadu polling station in Batticaloa at 3.30 a.m. on the 17th;
- attacks on 3 EPDP offices in Jaffna – in Chavakachcheri, Mallakam and Manipay – on the 16th;
- a grenade thrown at the main counting center in Batticaloa town at the Hindu College premises on the 17th;
- a grenade thrown at Puthunagar Police post on the night of the 16th;
- a grenade thrown at the Vigneswara Vidyalaya polling station on the night of the 16th;
- a grenade thrown at the Santhiveli Vinayagar School in Batticaloa at about 9.30 on the night of the 16th;
- a grenade thrown at the Chenkalady Maha Vidyala polling station (a cluster polling station) on the 17th; 6 persons were injured, including 2 policemen and a 14 year old boy;
- a grenade attack on the Kaluthavalai Maha Vidyalaya polling station at 8 a.m. on the 17th;
- A Sub-Inspector of Police and his driver were assaulted by a crowd of alleged UNP supporters when he detained a person suspected of impersonation in Kattankudy
- a grenade thrown at Hindu Maha Vidyalaya polling station, Valaichchenai, in the morning of the 17th.
a grenade thrown at Hindu Maha Vidyalaya polling station, Valaichchenai, in the afternoon of the 17th.

In light of the above incidents, CMEV calls on you to use the powers vested in you as Commission of Elections to call for a re-poll of the North and East in order to ensure that a truly free and fair election of the chief executive of Sri Lanka has taken place.

We would like to refer to Section 103(2) of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution that mandates the Commissioner to ensure the conduct of a free and fair poll. This, as you well know, in terms of the Presidential Elections Act of 1981 and the Elections (Special Provisions) Act of 1988, is especially so in circumstances which could affect the outcome of the elections. We draw your attention also to Article 21(2) of the Elections (Special Provisions Act which refers to the need for a re-poll where due to an emergency or unforeseen circumstance, the poll for the election of a District cannot be taken.

We hope that you will consider the circumstances of violence and intimidation that accompanied the Presidential polls in the Northern Province and in the Eastern Province on November 17 and call for a re-poll in keeping with the powers vested in you by law.

Dr. P. Saravanamuttu Co-Convenor	Sunila Abeysekera Co-Convenor	Seetha Ranjani Co-Convenor