Sole representatives were beaten in Eastern Province

by Arjuna Hulugalle
As we advance to the Peace talks, the LTTE and all the other parties of the national polity will present arguments on the diverse issues involved. The government may accept the ISGA proposals of the LTTE as a starting point to bring the LTTE to the table. Sri Lanka being a mature democracy and a signatory to the UN Charter will have to however, respect Article 21 Clause (3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of Government" and any agreement will have to be based on those rights to get a legitimacy and national and international recognition.

One of the contentious issues will be the will of the people of the Eastern Province especially with regard to the merger with the Northern Province. Here an analysis of the voting pattern and representation of the people through mandated members of Parliament is worth a serious examination. I give below the statistics of the voting that took place in April 2004:

One can only imagine the results if a free and fair referendum is conducted based on a proper census and authentic electoral lists.

The 1977 polls were the last elections held after a proper census and with authentic electoral lists. This was subsequent to the Vaddukodai Resolution of 1976. At those elections only 27 per cent, 32.5 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts voted for the TULF, which contested on a plank of an independent state. In the entire Eastern Province, only 27 per cent voted for the TULF, while 73 per cent opposed them. Also although Batticaloa district had a 71 per cent Tamil population, only 32.5 per cent supported the TULF.