UNP to seek judicial verdict

by Ananda Kannangara

The UNP will seek the verdict from the Judiciary during the course of next week in regard to the rejected Colombo Municipal Council nomination list.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer, UNP Deputy General Secretary Tissa Attanayaka said that they have already brought this matter to the attention of the Election Commissioner and if there is a negative response, the UNP will contest the CMC election with the assistance of an independent group.

"However we are confident that even having an alliance with any independent group, the UNP's victory of the CMC is definite," he said. The original UNP nomination list was rejected by the Election Commissioner's Department on the grounds that the candidate Dikwella Mutukumara Palavinnage Supun Lakmal had not completed the relevant age limit of 18 years to the date of 2004.06.01.

Attanayake said that the relevant candidate's name was included in the list due to an technical error.

"This was not the first occasion that an incident of this nature happened. A similar incident happened at the 2002 Local Government Election and we were able to resolve it after consulting the Election Commissioner," he said.

Attanayaka further said that the UNP is also expected to come into an agreement with the SLFP in order to sort out the matter, considering that seven other nomination lists of Colombo itself, Gampaha, Moratuwa and Dehiwala-Mt. Lavinia were also rejected due to technical errors.
