Will Elections Bring Peace in Sri Lanka?

(11 Mar 08 – RV) A militia of former Tamil Tiger rebels has swept local elections in Eastern Sri Lanka. The Karuna group – which is now allied with the government – took 53 percent of the votes cast in Batticaloa yesterday, giving it 11 of the 19 seats on the municipal council. The government has billed the vote, which is the first in 14 years, as a first step toward restoring order in a region long dominated by the Tamil insurgents and only taken by government forces last year. However spokesperson Jehan Perera of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies in Colombo says the election results are unlikely to bring peace to the nation anytime soon…