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Pro-rebel Tamil party wins one of the two local elections in Tamil Eelam

 
These are the first elections after the Tigers defeat · Governmental party in Sri Lanka wins in Jaffna with an abstention of 77% · Pro-independence Tamil forces say the strategy of Sinhalese nationalist parties has failed

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won last Saturday the local elections in Vavuniya, one of the two towns in Tamil Eelam where candidates where elected. The victory of the pro-independence party in the first polls after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers has been a blow for Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his party, who had as his main objective to win the elections with ease.

In Vavuniya the TNA gained 35% of the vote and 5 out of the 11 seats at stake. Another Tamil party, the more moderate Popular Democratic People's Liberation Front, obtained 33,6% and 3 seats, while Rajapaksa's ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) got 24,8 % of the vote and 2 seats. According to election officials, turnout was 50%.

Disputed victory in Jaffna

United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won in Jaffna, the other town where elections were held and one of the main municipalities in Tamil Eeleam. However, turnout did not even reach the 23% of the electoral register, as the government of Sri Lanka admits, which makes analysts wonder what could have been the results of elections had the participation raised to the standards. Rajapaksa's party took 13 out of the 23 seats, while TNA got 8.

In view of the ruling party's unexceptional results, TNA has declared that UPFA's strategy has clearly failed. According to a press statement released in TamilNet online journal, the governmental party could not achieve its aim of winning in these elections because of "people's frustration". TNA further added that there has been voting irregularities, since many fishermen from Jaffna have not been allowed to vote and many people did not possess a National Identity Card.

280,000 people still penned up

In the midst of elections, more than 280,000 people are still penned up in detention camps in spite that war between Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese army ended last May. According to Human Rights Watch, detainees will not be allowed to leave the camps until the construction works of new housing are not finished, which makes them de facto prisoners.

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