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Sri Lanka Muslim party fears safety in local elections |
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08:37, January 14, 2008 |
Sri Lanka's main Muslim minority party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on Sunday expressed concerns about the possibility of free and fair elections being held in the island's Eastern Province in the proposed local elections.
The Commissioner of Elections has called for nominations to hold elections for nine local councils in the Eastern Provinces' Batticaloa district between Jan. 18 and Jan. 25.
"The situation in the east is not at all conducive to hold an election. Armed groups are roaming around intimidating people," Rauff Hakeem, the SLMC leader told reporters.
Hakeem said the party would meet the Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake soon to apprise him of the security situation in the area.
He said that a vehicle belonging to his party was attacked by an armed group on Saturday when a party official had gone there to organize nomination papers.
He said Saturday's shooting incident near a mosque in Kathankudy area where three people including a Muslim priest were injured was yet another indication of the poor security situation in the province.
Source:Xinhua
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