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Sri Lankan ruling party probes members for election malpractice |
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November 20, 2000
COLOMBO--(UNB/AP) - At least four ministers, 15 deputies and 24 other ruling party members have been asked to respond to charges of election violence and malpractice, a newspaper reported Sunday. The charges had been forwarded by a three-member government panel headed by Sripathy Suriyarachchi, who has asked the parliamentarians and members to respond within 14 days or be considered guilty, the Sunday Times said. Suriyarachchi was not available for comment. The Oct. 10 election, which returned President Chandrika Kumaratunga's coalition to power, was rife with accusations of violence and vote-rigging. At least 71 people were killed during the five-week campaign, the independent Center for Monitoring Election Violence said. Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake also conceded that the polls had witnessed malpractices. He annulled votes at 22 polling stations. The governing party's move to investigate its own comes after a series of similar allegations made about the conduct of provincial council elections and the presidential polls in 1999. Media personnel and election watchdogs accused the government of widespread malpractices and violence. |