The Elections in the East: USA Ambassador Robert Blake has had to eat his own words

Recently, US Envoy Robert Blake voiced himself that the local elections to be held in the liberated East could not be free and fair. In fact I wrote a Paper which was published in The Asian Tribune of February 7, : “Our US Ambassador expressing doubts of forthcoming elections in Batticaloa” where I assured him that our Elections Service was far superior to that of the USA and that he could be assured of a free and fair election.

Now the elections to the nine local government councils in Batticaloa are history. Though the polling stations were manned to the hilt with soldiers guarding the precincts, there was not a single incident where anyone was marched to a polling precinct with a revolver held to one’s head.

There was not a single incident reported where anyone threatened a polling precinct presiding officer with a gun and stuffed ballots into the ballot boxes as happened many a time during elections held in the Eighties, under the UNP rule! In fact Professor Sunanda Deshapriya, the Co-convenor of the Center for Monitoring Election Violence has said that the election was peaceful in Batticaloa District except incidents of vote rigging in Valachenai.(Lanka e News 11/3/08).

The incidents of vote rigging were sporadic instances and nowhere near the stolen elections of the US President in both 2000 and 2004.

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