Ratwatte to resign if polls are held

COLOMBO, July 19: Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte on Sunday issued a powerful threat that he would relinquish responsibility f...

COLOMBO, July 19: Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte on Sunday issued a powerful threat that he would relinquish responsibility for the war effort against Tamil Tigers if the Government did not postpone the provincial council elections.

Last week, the Government had scheduled the elections to the five provincial councils on August 28 but there has been speculation that these elections will not be held and instead postponed under emergency regulations. There is no official word yet on the issue but the Minister’s threat has increased the chances of postponement.

Ratwatte was quoted over the state run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) as saying that the elections would necessitate withdrawing thousands of troops from the war front for poll security duty, and this would only enable the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to regroup at a time when the war was “90 per cent over”. He said that if the Government held the elections as scheduled, he would no longer take responsibility for thewar.

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Though the Government is yet to announce a decision on provincial council elections, the Opposition United National Party (UNP) has already called off its campaign in anticipation of such a move.

According to a report in the weekly Sunday Times, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe directed party candidates not to go ahead with the campaign as it would be a wasted effort and a draw on the party’s resources. Instead, the UNP is concentrating on a campaign of protest against the possible postponement of elections.

Ratwatte’s statement, publicised by state radio, is a clear indication that the Government may indeed postpone the provincial council polls and hopes that his threat of giving up responsibility for war may earn it public approval for the postponement.

Normally, postponement of elections would require Constitutional amendments, but President Chandrika Kumaratunga can also do so by extending the emergency that now exists in some parts of the country, to areas where the elections are to beheld.

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However, so far, the Election Commissioner has been going ahead with preparations for the polls on the assumption that they will be held as scheduled on August 28. Five provinces — central, north-central, western, Uva and Sabaragamuva — are to go to the polls on that day. A total of 2,446 candidates from 12 political parties have filed nominations.

Meanwhile, two police officers were seriously wounded in two successive bomb blasts at a telecommunication tower of a mobile service company in President Kumaratunga’s home district. Several other policemen were also injured in the blasts at the tower in Nittambuwa, 10 km from the President’s family estate in Attanagalla in Gampaha district. Police believe it to be the work of an underground gang.