S. Lankan religious leaders demand end to poll violence

(January 15, 2010) With pre-poll violence already under way in Sri Lanka, the nation’s religious leaders have said they will step in and directly intervene to resolve any dispute in the run-up to the Jan. 26 presidential election. A person was killed when gunmen attacked a bus carrying opposition supporters on Jan. 13, the first apparent death in the campaign. But there have been scores of attacks and incidents in the past weeks in the island nation. These included destroying opponents’ banners, setting fire to party offices, attacking reporters and supporters, putting some in hospital. In the face of this, leaders from Sri Lanka’s major faiths have banded together under the banner of Inter-faith Coalition for the Prevention of Election Conflicts. “We see mounting election violations here as has happened in the past. There is also a lack of freedom for media to write freely and voters to think freely,” said Catholic priest Father Jayalath Balagalla, a member of the group. In a letter to the election chief and police chief, members of the group had appealed to bring election violence under control. Venerable Madampagama Asaaji Thera, president of the coalition, said he and his fellow activists have decided to gather the 22 presidential candidates and make them pledge before them that they will not resort to violence and will support a free and fair election. According to the inter-faith coalition, election chief Dayananda Dissanayake admitted his helplessness over the pre-poll violence saying no political party was following his instructions.