Today, March 30, 2006, 11, 037, 763 voters were due to cast their votes for 266 local government bodies, in 17 Districts, consisting of 217 Pradesheeya Sabhas, 34 Urban Councils and 12 Municipal Councils.

Of the total local government bodies, consisting of 270 Pradesheeya Sabhas, 42 Urban Councils and 18 Municipal Councils, elections for 22 were postponed due to election petitions. Among them were the Municipal Councils in Colombo, Galle, Gampaha, Kalmunai, Urban Councils in Ampoule and Wattegama and Pradesheeya Sabhas in Seethawaka (Colombo District), Patha Hewaheta and Uda Palatha (Kandy District), Elpitiya (Galle District), Naveethanveli, Akkaraipattu, Pottuvil, Addalachenai and Nintavur (Amparai District), Kobeigane (Kurunegala District), Balangoda (Ratnapura District) and all 5 local government councils in Mannar District.

Elections in the Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Vanni, Mannar and Vavuniya Districts in the Northern Province and in Batticaloa in the Eastern Province were postponed by the Commissioner of Elections to September 30, 2006, due to security reasons.

Two local government bodies were declared unanimously elected without the holding of a poll, for Pradesheeya Sabhas in Pudukudirippu (Mullaitivu District) and Verugal (Trincomalee District).

CMEV commenced monitoring of the local government elections from the close of nominations on February 16 2006. Based on previous records regarding areas in which a high incidence of election related violence had been recorded, as well as with a focus on areas in which the functioning of local government institutions had been affected by the tsunami, in which there were ethnically diverse electorates and areas in which small regional parties and independent groups were contesting, CMEV decided to monitor the elections on March 30 in a selected number of Pradesheeya Sabhas, Urban Councils and Municipal Councils.
45 CMEV field monitors began work on March 15 in 17 Districts, and monitored the conduct of the election campaign.

By March 29, CMEV had received 274 reports of incidents of election-related violence of which 118 were categorized as major incidents, of which there were 73 assaults. One murder, that of P. Cyril Anthony, PA member, in Wattala (Gampaha District) on March 18 was recorded as being directly related to the elections. The highest number of incidents was reported from the Districts of Colombo (34), Gampaha (32) Anuradhapura (24), Kurunegala (23), Ratnapura (21) and Kandy (17). The highest number of assaults, 17, were reported from the North Western province. 14 incidents involved the use of fire arms.

In a statement issued on March 29, 2006, CMEV recorded its concern regarding the increase of election related violence in the last fortnight of the election campaign, citing the competition for preferential votes, in particular between the JVP and the PA, as being a critical factor. Police inaction in the case of several of the reports of assault and violations of election law was also cited as being a major cause of concern for the conduct of a free and fair election on March 30.

On election day, March 30, 2006 in addition to its 45 field monitors, CMEV fielded 20 mobile teams of 2 each in selected areas. CMEV also had 554 election day observers in selected polling stations. CMEV monitored in total, 1559 polling stations or approximately 18% of the total number of polling stations operational in the elections of 30 March 2006.

CMEV received 249 complaints of election related violence and violations of election law throughout election day. Of this, 77 are classified as major incidents, including 5 cases of hurt, 1 of grievous hurt and 6 cases of assault. There were also reports of intimidation, grabbing of polling cards and identity documents from voters on the night of the 29th. During the day, there were reports of intimidation of voters and polling agents, assaults, large-scale impersonation, display of propaganda material in close proximity to polling stations and transporting voters to polling stations.

Following reports of systematic impersonation from Nawalapitiya (Kandy District), Suduwella (Chilaw District) and Anpuvelipuram (Trincomalee District), the CMEV called on the Commissioner of Elections to consider annulment of the polls for Nawalapitiya Urban Council, Polling Centre No. 44 in Chilaw Pradesheeya Sabha and Trincomalee Urban Council.

In Nawalapitiya, CMEV received reports of the forcible collection of polling cards from the evening of March 29. When polling commenced, reports came in that voters and polling agents were being prevented from entering all 4 polling stations in the Nawalapitiya Urban Council polling area, and large-scale impersonation was taking place, for example at the Nawalapitiya Kanishka Balika Vidyalaya. The driver of the vehicle in which the CMEV monitor for the area was traveling was threatened and chased away and a climate not conducive to the conduct of a free and fair election prevailed in Nawalapitiya throughout the day. Supporters of Mahindananda Aluthgamage, UPFA MP for Kandy, were reported to have been involved in these acts, carried out against the UNP.

In Suduwella, Chilaw, UNP supporter Mr. Y.M. Premaratna was assaulted in the vicinity of the polling centre at Suduwella Primary School, and was admitted to hospital with a head injury. A UNP polling agent assaulted and chased away, and a UNP candidate, Mr. Lalith Ananda, assaulted.

In Trincomalee, CMEV monitors reported systematic and large-scale impersonation of voters taking place at 3 polling stations located at the Kalaimagal Tamil Vidyalaya and the Weaving Centre in Anpuvelipuram, Trincomalee.

In addition, a report from Beliatta stated that about 50 UPFA supporters led by candidate U.G. Edirisinghe and traveling in 2 vehicles were engaged in the intimidation of voters at the polling station located in the Pallattara Madya Maha Vidyalaya in the Beliatta Pradesheeya Sabha area throughout the day. In the afternoon, there was a confrontation between them and a UNP polling agent who protested against their actions, which led to the Police firing in the air to quell the dispute. A similar situation took place when the ballot boxes were being removed from the station and the Police once more had to fire to subdue the confrontation between the two groups. Flags displaying the JVP symbol, the bell, were displayed outside the polling centre.

From Weeraketiya, the CMEV monitor reported that at the polling station located at Mulkirigala Maha Vidyalaya, a group of persons sitting in a van flying a green flag parked outside the polling station were intimidating voters and demanding that they cast their preferential vote for candidate No. 19. At the polling station located at Wijesunderarama Preaching Hall in the Tangalle Urban Council area, a group of persons wearing blue Tshirts congregated near the entrance and intimidating voters were chased away by the Police but returned soon after and re-commenced their activities.

In the polling station located at De Soysa Vidyalaya in Kaldemulla, Moratuwa, UPFA candidate Mr. Sujith was assaulted and sustained a cut wound on his face as a consequence. At the Madawankulama Muslim Maha Vidyalaya in the Anamaduwa Pradesheeya Sabha area, polling agents for the UNP and JVP were chased away and school children were used for impersonation.

CMEV regrets that it did not have this information at the time at which we wrote to the Election Commissioner urging him to consider serious action in respect of polling in Chilaw, Nawalapitiya and Trincomalee.

Reports of Police inaction received, particularly from Chilaw and Nawalapitiya, are viewed by CMEV as a major area of concern, in terms of the conduct of a free and fair election, now and in the future. The high standards demonstrated by the Police during the General elections of 2004 and the Presidential elections of November 2005 were widely attributed to the establishment of the National Police Commission. CMEV strongly feels that if these standards are to be maintained and the independence and professionalism of the Police service is to be affirmed, the reconstitution of the Constitutional Council and the appointing of the independent Commissions including the Police Commission are of vital importance.

CMEV believes that whilst the introduction of procedures requiring voters to establish their identity contributes towards a free and fair election, such procedures should be communicated to the voters well in advance and all polling stations should be provided with the necessary resources to make these procedures truly effective. In the local government elections of 30 March 2006, where this procedure was tried out for the first time, voters were inconvenienced in certain cases because polling stations ran out of finger print cards; in others, it was reported that exercise books were used instead.

On the basis of the reports received on election day, and taking into account the incidents identified above, CMEV is of the opinion that the local government elections of March 2006 have been relatively violence free. However, CMEV is concerned that the levels of violence registered at this election were higher than in the last Presidential election of November 2005. We wish to emphasise the point that we have consistently made in all election monitoring reports that the responsibility for election-related violence lies primarily with political parties. We therefore call upon all political parties to take this responsibility seriously and play the vital role they have to in institutionalizing the good practice of free and fair elections. In conclusion, we wish to reiterate the argument advanced above with regard to the full implementation of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for independent Commissions.

CMEV was formed in 1997 by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), the Free Media Movement (FMM) and the Coalition Against Political Violence as an independent and non-partisan organisation to monitor the incidence of election related violence.

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