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60 p.c. turnout in eastern poll

— PHOTO: AFP

KEY ELECTION: A woman casts her ballot ata booth in Trincomalee on Saturday.

TRINCOMALEE: About 60 per cent of the nearly 10 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the first-ever election to the Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) on Saturday.

The much awaited election passed off without any major incidence of violence amid unprecedented security measures and charges of large-scale irregularities.

This correspondent who drove down from Batticaloa to Trincomalee saw little enthusiasm among voters. At most booths, security forces outnumbered voters. All the mainstream opposition parties in the island nation have accused the ruling party of resorting to large scale malpractices in the election in which President Mahinda Rajapaksa has staked everything.

Voting was held in 1,070 polling centres spanning three districts, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. A record number of 1,342 candidates from 18 political parties and 73 independent groups are in the fray. Counting of votes is expected to start later in the night and the first results could be out by dawn.

A record number of 32,000 security forces and police personnel were deployed to guard 1,022 polling booths. An NGO, PAFFREL and Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) put on the ground 2,500 observers, including over 20 international monitors.

A bulletin issued by the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), a unit of the CPA, said on the basis of reports from the ground that the election was marked by “large scale impersonations, intimidation and widespread violence”.

“The context of violence in which this election is taking place has also been reinforced by the sinking of a Sri Lanka Navy logistics vessel inside the Ashraff jetty in the Trincomalee Harbour this morning. This has been attributed to the LTTE”, the CMEV said.

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