![Gossip - Lanka News [English]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMdjdmkZNNmQMdiyVyjHG0DAsid1JQzX2Wn_k0MMWpx93YaFp4Hv9rnCw1uuJZY1H60dquhLJCfg_uJg-gEz_FRlG07NUtWUslmZMhWhnOnm3dUim4hjUuNto_KPJrByj4iyXdSXuctY/s1600-r/GOSSIP-LANKA+LOGO.png)
A senior Election Secretariat spokesman said that either the DP Leader had an extremely short memory or was playing politics at the expense of Deshapriya. The official was responding to Gen. Fonseka’s allegation that the Polls Chief had failed to create a level playing field in the run-up to the Uva Provincial Council election.
Addressing the media, at his party head office at Pitakotte last Thursday (Aug. 21), Gen. Fonseka alleged that Deshapriya had turned a blind eye to what was happening on the ground.
The Election Secretariat said that no one really believed that the DP would receive political recognition. In fact, even the DP leadership had been of the opinion that the government would interfere with the Election Secretariat as well as the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) when the DP appealed for political recognition, the official said.
The appeal had been made following the rejection by Deshapriya’s predecessor, Dayananda Dissanayake of the DP’s application on the basis it didn’t fulfill mandatory
The HRCSL directed the Election Secretariat to inquire into the appeal made by Messrs Alles and Ranatunga on behalf of the DP, though they were no longer with the same party.
"Although, many believed Deshapriya would refuse to recognise the DP on the basis that the plea had been made by two persons who were no longer members of that party, the Election Secretariat recognised the DP."
The official pointed out that Gen. Fonseka, who had been accusing the government and the Election Secretariat of committing computer jilmaat [fraud]’ at the last presidential election, at Thursday’s media briefing admitted that the government had a vote bank consisting of 4.5 mn people.
Responding to a query by The Island, the official said that DP Chairman retired Maj. Gen. Sunil de Silva and DP General Secretary Ananda Manawadu had never addressed the Polls Chief or any other official in a disparaging way. "Of course, both officials regularly attended meetings called by the polls chief. They know our efforts to ensure a level playing field. No one expected a peaceful environment at the first Northern Provincial Council poll last September. Indian as well as Commonwealth polls monitors deployed in the Northern Province subsequently praised our efforts because they realised the important role played by those serving the Election Secretariat at every level."
Had there been a special project to undermine the DP as alleged by Gen. Fonseka, how could the newly formed party managed to do reasonably well at Provincial Council polls held in the Central and North Western Provinces just three months after it received recognition, the official asked. At Provincial Council polls in the Southern and Western Provinces, the DP did even better and managed to come third in the Western Province at the expense of the JVP, the official said, urging the former army chief not to seek cheap political gains.
The DP altogether secured 17 slots in the four councils.
Responding to another query, the official asserted that perhaps the DP Leader had been attacking President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Polls Chief Mahinda Deshapriya in a bid to muster support for him to be common presidential candidate.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
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