The Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008 was held on May 10, 2008 to elect members to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

’s

Eastern Provincial Council The Eastern Provincial Council (EPC ta, கிழக்கு மாகாண சபை ''Kiḻakku Mākāṇa Capai''; si, නැගෙනහිර පළාත් සභාව “Nagenahira Palat Sabava”; EPC) is the provincial council for ...

. Following the successful completion of local government elections in the

Batticaloa District Batticaloa District ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டம் ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''maḍakalapūva distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 dist ...

, Sri Lanka’s Elections Department announced on March 14 that the elections for the Eastern Provincial Council were to be held in May, after a lapse of 20 years.''newKerala.com'
Sri Lanka to hold eastern provincial elections in May
/ref> It was only the second time direct elections are held to select members for the council, and first time for the Eastern Provincial Council alone, after it was separated from the North-Eastern Provincial Council in 2006. Nominations for contesting in the elections were accepted from March 27 to April 3, and a total of 1342 candidates from 18 political parties and 56 independent groups contested the elections where over 980,000 people were eligible to vote.''Sri Lanka Department of Elections''
Elections to Provincial Councils - 2008
/ref>''Xinhua'

/ref> Both of Sri Lanka’s major political parties, the opposition

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

and the ruling

United People's Freedom Alliance The United People's Freedom Alliance (abbreviated UPFA; si, එක්සත් ජනතා නිදහස් සන්ධානය ''Eksath Janathā Nidahas Sandānaya''; ta, ஐக்கிய மக்கள் சுதந்திரக� ...

took part in the election in coalitions with a number of other parties, but under their own names. According to the official results released by the Elections Department, the ruling UPFA were victorious in the election, winning 20 seats, while the opposition UNP won 15 seats. Two smaller parties, the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

(JVP) and the Tamizh Democratic National Alliance also won 1 seat each.

Background

The Provincial Council system was first set up in Sri Lanka following the signing of the

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling th ...

in 1987. Although Sri Lanka has 9 provinces, as part of the agreement the Northern and Eastern provinces were merged into a single North Eastern Province, and a joint North-Eastern Provincial Council formed. This was done following demands of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

political parties, who consider the north and east of Sri Lanka as their "traditional homeland", and wanted to administer the area as a single entity, against the protests of some members of the Sinhalese and Muslim communities. The first elections were held for the North Eastern Provincial council on November 19, 1988. The Tamil nationalist parties

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group. Militant separatists The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, Su ...

(EPRLF) and

Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) is a former Indian backed Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups (Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Fr ...

(ENDLF) won 35 and 12 seats respectively, while the

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress ( ta, சிறீலங்கா முஸ்லீம் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Srīlaṅkā Muslīm Kāṅkiras; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා මුස්ලිම් කොංග්‍රස� ...

(SLMC) won 17 seats and the ruling

won one seat.

Varatharaja Perumal Annamalai Varadaraja Perumal is a politician from Sri Lanka. He was the 1st and only Chief minister of the North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. He is the founder of Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (Varathar faction). Life Vara ...

was appointed Chief Minister by the victorious EPRLF, who also announced that they would form a ruling coalition with the ENDLF. However, as relations soured with India, and renewed fighting broke out between the government and the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

organization (the Tamil Tigers), the North-Eastern Provincial Council was dissolved in 1990 and its administration taken over by the government. The area was ruled by the government since then, with parts of it under the control of the Tamil Tigers.''IndiaeNews'
Sri Lanka to hold eastern provincial elections in May
/ref> While fresh elections were held for the other 7 provincial councils in 1993, and subsequently every five years later, no elections were held for the North Eastern due to the situation on the ground. Throughout the 1990s, control over parts of the province changed hands between the government and LTTE. When the ceasefire agreement was signed in 2002, parts of all 3 districts composing the Eastern Province were under the control of the LTTE. As the ceasefire broke down in mid-2006, the government launched a major military offensive to clear the Eastern Province of the LTTE. The Sri Lankan military fully achieving this objective in July 2007,''Daily News'
Tigers’ last Eastern bastion falls
and plans were immediately drawn up to hold local elections for the area.''Daily News'
Bill in Parliament soon for Eastern polls
Elections were however delayed due to the unstable situation on the ground, as it was the first time in 14 years that some parts of the province came under the control of the government. In the meantime, in a landmark decision the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

ruled on October 16, 2006 that since other conditions set the merger were not satisfied, the merger of the two provinces was "null and void without having any legal effect", thereby separating the administrative functions of the two provinces. As a precursor to the Provincial Council elections, the government first held elections to local government bodies in the Batticaloa district on March 10, with the

TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) ( ta, தமிழ் மக்கள் விடுதலைப்புலிகள், en, Tamil Peoples Liberation Tigers), previously known as the "Karuna Group", is a political party in Sri Lanka. It ...

(TMVP) winning 8 of the 9 bodies up for grabs. (se
official results

Details

The Eastern Province contains 15% of the landmass of Sri Lanka, and has a population of approximately 1.5 million people, or 7.8% of the country's population. Members for provincial councils are directly elected for 5-year terms. The leader of the council majority serves as the province's Chief Minister, alongside a board of ministers. A provincial governor is appointed by the

President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

. Voting to select members for the provincial councils took place between 7:00am and 4:00pm Sri Lankan time, at 1070 polling stations throughout the Eastern Province. A total of 37 members were to be elected to the Provincial Council, 14 from the

Ampara District Ampara District ( ta, அம்பாறை மாவட்டம், translit=Ampāṟai Māvaṭṭam; si, අම්පාර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය, translit=Ampāra Distrikkaya) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the s ...

, 11 from the

and 10 from the

Trincomalee District Trincomalee District ( ta, திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம் ''Tirukōṇamalai Māvaṭṭam;'' si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''Trikuṇāmalaya distrikkaya'') is one ...

, with the overall winner gaining two additional "bonus" members. 79 counting centers were set up to tally the votes.

Contesting political parties

The opposition

(UNP) boycotted the Batticaloa local government elections in March claiming the existence of the armed TMVP cadres would prevent the holding of free and fair elections. This move was however criticized by some analysts, and the UNP also faced pressure from within the party to contest the Provincial Council Elections.''Daily Mirror Opinion''
The Eastern litmus test
Kesara Abeywardena''Daily Mirror Opinion''
UNP catches the bus missed at Batticaloa
Subash Wickramasinghe Subsequently, the UNP announced on March 25 that they would be contesting the election.''Daily Mirror''
UNP decides to contest PC polls in East
/ref>''Daily News''
UNP, SLMC to contest EP poll
The

, the largest

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Party in the country, initially attempted to contest the elections as part of a larger coalition of Muslim parties. However discussions regarding this fell through, mainly because the parties could not agree on a symbol to contest under, with the SLMC insisting the alliance should use the “tree” symbol, a proposal the other parties were opposed to. On April 2, the SLMC announced they would contest the elections with the UNP,''Daily News''
EU poll: UNP, SLMC to contest under Elephant symbol
under the United National Party banner and the “elephant” symbol. In a surprise move, SLMC leader and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Rauff Hakeem Abdul Rauff Hibbathul Hakeem (born 13 April 1960) is a Sri Lankan politician and current member of parliament, representing the Kandy electorate since 2010. Hakeem is the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), and a member of the Unite ...

, along with 2 other SLMC MPs, Party Chairman Basheer Segudawood and General Secretary Hasen Ali also resigned from their seats in the

national parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

on April 2, and announced they would be contesting in the Provincial Council Elections. At the same time, another senior member of the SLMC, M.L.A.M. Hisbullah crossed over to the government.''Daily Mirror''
SLMC stalwarts quit Parliament
/ref> After discussions, the TMVP and the ruling

(UPFA) also announced on March 30 that they will jointly contest the polls under the UPFA's “betel leaf” symbol.''The Lanka Sun''
TMVP to contest east polls under UPFA’s ‘betel’ symbol
/ref> After some arguments between the leading Muslim candidate M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, and the leading Tamil candidate and leader of the TMVP Pillayan as to who will be appointed Chief Minister if the UPFA won the election, the ruling party decided that whichever community won the most votes would be given the Chief Ministerial post. The largest Tamil political party Tamil National Alliance totally boycotting these polls. United National party (UNP) and Tamil National Alliance groups claim unfair elections took place. TNA claimed it wasn't safe for them to operate in the east because the TMVP group was armed. TMVP threatened TNA MP's and also captured alive family members of TNA MP prior to the elections. Human rights groups claim that TMVP used violence before the election and therefore the elections were "tainted". An independent candidate also claimed that people voted out of fear for army backed TMVP.

Parties contesting in all 3 districts

Parties contesting in 2 districts

Parties contesting in 1 district

In addition, there were 11 independent parties contesting in the Batticaloa District, 22 in the Ampara District and 19 in the Trincomalee District.

Lead up to the elections

Despite some concerns that armed groups would disrupt the elections, the independent election monitoring group

People's Action Front for Free and Fair Elections People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights ma ...

(PAFFREL) said that they did not see any evidence of any groups using arms during the campaigning. 10 days before the election, the chief of PAFFEREL Kingsley Rodrigo told the Daily Mirror that he expected to see a free and fair election. There will also be 2,500 local and 20 internal polls monitors on the ground monitoring the elections.''The Nation''
2,520 observers to monitor eastern poll
/ref> There was a powerful bomb exploded at the town of Ampara on May 9, 2008 just a day before the elections, also 11 people killed and 36 sustained injuries. The suspected

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

planted the bomb by targeting government military personnel that used this place as a resting place.

Results

According to official results, the ruling

gained a majority in the Provincial Council, which was seen as a strike against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The UPFA won 20 seats (18 seats directly and two bonus seats for gaining the most votes overall), the opposition

15 seats and two smaller parties, the

and the

Tamizh Democratic National Alliance Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil lan ...

won one seat each. Pillayan, a former rebel leader, was sworn in as Chief Minister of Eastern Province on 16 May 2008.

, - ! style="vertical-align:bottom" rowspan=2 colspan=2 width="300", Alliances and parties !! colspan=3,

Ampara Ampara ( si, අම්පාර, ta, அம்பாறை) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. Hi ...

!! colspan=3,

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

!! colspan=3,

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

!! style="vertical-align:bottom" rowspan=2 width="40", Bonus
Seats !! colspan=3, Total , - ! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", Votes !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", % !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="40", Seats !!style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", Votes !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", % !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="40", Seats !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", Votes !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", % !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="40", Seats !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", Votes !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="50", % !! style="vertical-align:bottom; text-align:center" width="40", Seats , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" ,

( ACMC, NC,

SLFP The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

, TMVP et al.) , , 144,247 , , 52.96% , , 8 , , 105,341 , , 58.09% , , 6 , , 59,298 , , 42.99% , , 4 , , 2 , , 308,886 , , 52.21% , , 20 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" ,

( SLMC, UNP) , , 121,272 , , 44.52% , , 6 , , 58,602 , , 32.31% , , 4 , , 70,858 , , 51.37% , , 5 , , 0 , , 250,732 , , 42.38% , , 15 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" ,

, , 4,745 , , 1.74% , , 0 , , 379 , , 0.21% , , 0 , , 4,266 , , 3.09% , , 1 , , 0 , , 9,390 , , 1.59% , , 1 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" , Tamil Democratic National Alliance ( EPRLF(P),

PLOTE The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. Or ...

TULF The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

et al.) , , , , , , , , 7,714 , , 4.25% , , 1 , , , , , , , , 0 , , 7,714 , , 1.30% , , 1 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" ,

Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam Re ...

, , , , , , , , 5,418 , , 2.99% , , 0 , , , , , , , , 0 , , 5,418 , , 0.92% , , 0 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" , Independent Groups , , 737 , , 0.27% , , 0 , , 823 , , 0.45% , , 0 , , 1,073 , , 0.78% , , 0 , , 0 , , 2,633 , , 0.45% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , United Socialist Party , , 296 , , 0.11% , , 0 , , 943 , , 0.52% , , 0 , , 1,309 , , 0.95% , , 0 , , 0 , , 2,548 , , 0.43% , , 0 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" , Eelavar Democratic Front (

EROS In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...

) , , , , , , , , 1,816 , , 1.00% , , 0 , , 459 , , 0.33% , , 0 , , 0 , , 2,275 , , 0.38% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , United National Alliance , , 597 , , 0.22% , , 0 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 , , 597 , , 0.10% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" ,

People's Front of Liberation Tigers The People's Front of Liberation Tigers ( ta, விடுதலைப் புலிகள் மக்கள் முன்னணி) is a political party in Sri Lanka, founded as the political wing of the LTTE in 1989. Mahattaya was the found ...

, , 63 , , 0.02% , , 0 , , 157 , , 0.09% , , 0 , , 163 , , 0.12% , , 0 , , 0 , , 383 , , 0.06% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , All Lanka Tamil United Front , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 378 , , 0.27% , , 0 , , 0 , , 378 , , 0.06% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , New Sinhala Heritage , , 312 , , 0.11% , , 0 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 , , 312 , , 0.05% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , National Development Front , , 100 , , 0.04% , , 0 , , , , , , , , 89 , , 0.06% , , 0 , , 0 , , 189 , , 0.03% , , 0 , - , style="background:" , , , style="text-align:left" ,

Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya Motherland People's Party formerly Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputhra Pakshaya (The Great Consensus Party of the Sons of the Soil of Names of Sri Lanka#Sinhala and Sihalam, Sinhala) is a minor Sinhalese people, Sinhala Buddhist political party ...

, , 11 , , 0.00% , , 0 , , 85 , , 0.05% , , 0 , , 13 , , 0.01% , , 0 , , 0 , , 109 , , 0.02% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , Muslim Liberation Front , , , , , , , , 39 , , 0.02% , , 0 , , , , , , , , 0 , , 39 , , 0.01% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , Sri Lanka National Front , , , , , , , , 21 , , 0.01% , , 0 , , 9 , , 0.01% , , 0 , , 0 , , 30 , , 0.01% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , Sri Lanka Progressive Front , , , , , , , , 17 , , 0.01% , , 0 , , 9 , , 0.01% , , 0 , , 0 , , 26 , , 0.00% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" , Ruhuna People's Party , , 9 , , 0.00% , , 0 , , , , , , , , 5 , , 0.00% , , 0 , , 0 , , 14 , , 0.00% , , 0 , - , , , style="text-align:left" ,

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, , 3 , , 0.00% , , 0 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0 , , 3 , , 0.00% , , 0 , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left" , Valid Votes , , 272,392 , , 100.00% , , 14 , , 181,355 , , 100.00% , , 11 , , 137,929 , , 100.00% , , 10 , , 2 , , 591,676 , , 100.00% , , 37 , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left" , Rejected Votes , , 20,997 , , , , , , 21,088 , , , , , , 12,695 , , , , , , , , 54,780 , , , , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left" , Total Polled , , 293,389 , , , , , , 202,443 , , , , , , 150,624 , , , , , , , , 646,456 , , , , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left" , Registered Electors , , 409,308 , , , , , , 330,950 , , , , , , 242,463 , , , , , , , , 982,721 , , , , , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left" , Turnout , , 71.68% , , , , , , 61.17% , , , , , , 62.12% , , , , , , , , 65.78% , , , , , - , style="background-color: #e9e9e9; text-align: left; border-right: none; font-size: smaller" colspan="15" , Source
Sri Lanka Department of Elections
Notes: :1. Includes 2 bonus seats

Claims of election irregularities

The

and the

claimed that many incidents of election irregularities such as vote rigging was carried out by members of the

and the

during election day. The UNP and the SLMC has made a petition challenging the result of Ampara district PC to the supreme court.AC issues notice for UNP-SLMC election petition
/ref>

References

External links

Eastern Provincial CouncilDepartment of Elections, Sri Lanka
{{Sri Lankan elections Eastern Provincial Council 2008–2009 Sri Lankan provincial council elections Indian Peace Keeping Force