TNA, EPDP to contest Northern poll

Manjula FERNANDO

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will contest the forthcoming Jaffna and Vavuniya local government elections which will be held after more than a decade, Party sources confirmed yesterday.

"We will definitely contest the elections in both the Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council," the sources said.

He added that however the names of candidates will not be made public until the close of nominations. The party is to nominate 15 candidates for the 11 seat-Vavuniya Urban Council while 30 members will vie for 23 seats in the Jaffna Municipal Council as per requirement of the Elections Act.

The sources said they hope to actively campaign in the electorates but the election campaign may consist of house to house visits rather than formal rallies due to security concerns.

Meanwhile, the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) which is contesting the Northern elections, has still not decided whether it is going to contest the elections in Alliance. However, a decision in this regard will be taken by its Central Committee shortly, the Party said.

"It is vitally important that the people's representatives should be selected through an election and the administration of the region handed over to them. In addition, we emphasize that steps need to be taken for implementation of the provisions of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution."