Sri Lanka's ruling party wins provincial polls

COLOMBO-SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka's ruling party won control of two provincial assemblies Sunday in elections regarded by the government as a referendum on its military offensive against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

The Department of Elections said the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance coalition won 20 seats on the 33-member North Central provincial council and 25 seats on the 44-member Sabaragamuwa council.

The main opposition United National Party captured a total of 29 seats on the two councils, while the Marxist People's Liberation Front won a total of three seats.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition government had said a vote for the United People's Freedom Alliance would be seen as an endorsement of its war against the rebels.

``The strength and morale that our heroic troops will receive from this victory in their battles to finally end bloody terrorism from our country is immeasurable,'' Rajapaksa said in a statement Sunday.

Opposition parties have accused the government of using military victories for political gain and claimed the ruling coalition misused state properties during the election.

Government troops have made marked progress on the battlefront in recent weeks, capturing rebel bases and chunks of rebel-held land in the island's north as part of its campaign to crush the Tamil Tigers by the end of this year.

Independent monitors said assaults, threats, misuse of government property and the burning of homes and offices were reported in the run-up to the election.

``The pre-election period was terrible,'' said Kingsley Rodrigo, head of the independent People's Action for Free and Fair Elections. However, he said election day was peaceful and that ``polling went smoothly.''

United National Party General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said the pre-election violence affected its campaign.
``Our candidates and supporters were threatened and attacked before the polling day,'' he said.

The government denied the opposition claims. ``The election was peaceful,'' government spokesman Anura Yapa said, adding that the opposition's claims were an attempt draw attention away from their defeat.
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Renewed fighting Saturday along the civil war's northern front lines killed 30 rebels and three soldiers, according to the military.

The rebels have fought the government since 1983 to create an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced marginalization by successive governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting.