Ruling UPFA wins Jaffna, but loses Vavuniya in Lanka post-war polls

October 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka is to hold presidential elections nearly two years before scheduled, an official said Tuesday. "The presidential elections will be held before April next year," Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said.

September 29th, 2009 COLOMBO - Almost four months after eliminating the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), the Government of Sri Lanka has commenced recruiting Tamil police officers from the northern city of Jaffna. The BBC quoted Defence Ministry officials as saying that this is the first time in 30 years that a recruitment of Tamil police personnel is taking place.

August 8th, 2009 Sri Lanka holds postwar polls in northern townsCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka —Sri Lanka hailed elections Saturday near an area once dominated by the Tamil Tiger rebels as the first seeds of democracy sprouting along the former battlefields of its recently ended civil war, but voters largely stayed away from the polls in the violence-scarred region. Opposition parties accused the ruling coalition of restricting their campaigns, the government barred most media from the region, and voters appeared apathetic in the first elections in the northern cities of Jaffna and Vavuniya since 1998.

August 8th, 2009 Government and pro-rebel party win local electionsCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka —Sri Lanka's ruling coalition and an ethnic Tamil party seen as a front for the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels have won the first postwar elections, held near the island's former battlefields. According to state television, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition captured Jaffna town council, securing 13 of the 23 seats, while the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance came second with eight seats in the election held Saturday.

August 6th, 2009 Rights group protests media ban of Sri Lanka pollCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka — An international media rights group has expressed outrage at the Sri Lanka's decision to ban journalists from covering the first local elections in the north since the military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels. The government has touted the polls scheduled for Saturday in the cities of Vavuniya and Jaffna as the first sign of democracy taking root in an area ravaged by the 25-year civil war that ended in May.

August 2nd, 2009 COLOMBO - A senior civil administration official in the Sri Lankan government has been arrested for alleged links with the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, police said Sunday. Nagalingam Vethanayagam, the government agent of Kilinochchi, was arrested Friday following information from an arrested Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre, police said.

May 25th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government plans to hold local council elections in regions formerly controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a minister said here Monday. "I have today (Monday) signed the relevant gazette notification," said Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, minister of local government and provincial councils.

May 17th, 2009 COLOMBO - The following is the chronology of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which Sunday announced an end to its armed struggle for an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka. 1972: Velupillai Prabhakaran forms Tamil New Tigers (TNT) 1976: Prabhakaran sets up LTTE 1978: Issues its first press statement 1983: Kills 13 soldiers in Jaffna; anti-Tamil violence leads to Tamil insurgency 1986: Wipes out biggest rival Tamil militant group 1987: Takes on Indian Army deployed in Sri Lanka's northeast.

May 8th, 2009 COLOMBO - The Government of Sri Lanka has blackisted a senior researcher of the emergencies division at Human Rights Watch (HRW) due to violation of the country's immigration and emigration laws. Immigration and Emigration controller P.B.

April 26th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's ruling coalition Sunday swept elections to the Western Provincial Council, that includes the capital Colombo, after a high pitched campaign seeking support for the military offensive aimed at crushing the Tamil Tigers. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) secured 65 percent of the total votes cast, leaving the opposition badly battered.

March 3rd, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's northern highway that links Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the island was opened Monday for military traffic after 24 long years, military sources said. Two convoys of soldiers - one group going home on leave from Jaffna and the other going to Jaffna after finishing leave - met each other on the way and exchanged greetings on the A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway.

February 14th, 2009 COLOMBO - President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition party registered a landslide victory at the poll held Saturday for two provincial councils, refreshing its mandate to conduct its fight-to-finish military campaign against the Tamil Tigers. According to results announced Sunday, United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) retained its control in the North-Western and Northern provinces by winning the polls by nearly two-thirds majority.

February 14th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has swept provincial elections held Saturday, according to results announced Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's UPFA will thus retain control of both the Central and the North Western Provincial Councils, the Commissioner of Elections said.

February 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's ruling party was poised to win elections being held Saturday in two of the nine provinces in what is widely seen as a prelude to snap parliamentary polls this year. The voting to select members of provincial councils was being held in the Central and North-Western provinces where more than 3.4 million voters are registered to vote.

February 13th, 2009 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's ruling party was poised to win elections being held Saturday in two of the nine provinces in what is widely seen as a prelude to snap parliamentary polls this year. The voting to select members of provincial councils was being held in the central and north-western provinces where more than 3.4 million voters are registered to vote.