PC polls: 23 relatives of govt. politicians in the fray

by Dasun Edirisinghe

SLFP General Secretary, Minister Maithreepala Sirisena, had claimed that the kith and kin of the coalition politicians would not be given nominations to contest the forthcoming provincial council elections, but 23 relatives of the ruling party politicians were contesting on UPFA ticket, the JVP claimed yesterday.

Addressing a media conference at the party’s Pelawatte head office, JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said that the majority of government politicians’ relatives were contesting in the Kegalle District.

According to the JVP, Minister Athauda Seneviratne’s son Parakrama Athauda, his son-in-law Udayakantha Gunathilake, Deputy Minister H. R. Mithrapala’s son H. R. Dushmantha, Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya’s cousin Harsha Siyambalapitiya, Deputy Minister Lalith Dissanayake’s son, Chamila Dissanayake, Minister Jagath Balasuriya’s son, Taraka Balasuriya and parliamentarian Y. G. Padmasiri’s daughter, Y. G. Jinadari, were contesting elections to the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council on UPFA ticket in the Kegalle District, Silva said.

Nephew of minister W. D. J. Seneviratne, Prabath de Alwis, minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi’s husband, Kanchana Jayaratne, deputy minister Premalal Jayasekera’s brother-in-law, Ranjith Bandara, former parliamentarian Jayatissa Ranaweera’s son, Chaminda Ranaweera, and former parliamentarian S. Liyanage’s son, Waruna Liyanage, were contesting on the UPFA ticket in the Ratnapura District, he said.

Minister Tissa Karaliyadda’s wife, Kalyani Karaliyadda and Minister S. M. Chandrasena’s younger, brother S. M. Ranjith were contesting on the UPFA ticket in the Anuradhapura District for the North Central Provincial Council.

Silva said that not only relatives of the government politicians but also several gangsters and criminals had been fielded by the government.

JVP leader for the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council former MP Gamini Ratnayake said that a notorious criminal was on the Kegalle District UPFA list.

JVP leader for the North Central Provincial Council Wasantha Samarasinghe said that a former head of a government institution, who had been charged by the Presidential Investigation Unit with fraud, was also contesting from the Anuradhapura District. His case was still being heard at the Anuradhapura High Court, said Samarasinghe.

The JVP General Secretary said that all those candidates used the State resources for their campaign in violation of the election laws.

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