Several political parties are to seek court intervention in Jaffna due to the confusion in accepting the nominations for the upcoming Local Government Elections 2025.
According to the Returning Officer, Jaffna District Mr.Maruthalingam Pratheepan, 148 parties and 27 independent groups handed over the nominations in Jaffna District and among them, 136 party nominations and 10 Independent groups were rejected due to various reasons.
This created a tense atmosphere near the District Secretariat. Former parliamentarian and the spokesperson of Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA) Mr.Suresh Premachandran stated to the media that the rejection of their nominations (09 nomination of the DTNA rejected) are unacceptable, and they are preparing to file a case against the Jaffna election office and the returning offices in the high court.
Meanwhile, an independent group headed by Gnanapragasam Sulaxan also said they would seek court justice against the rejection.
The party ‘Tamil Makkal Thesiya Koottani’, headed by former parliamentarian C.V.Vigneswaran also rejected in the Jaffna municipal Council due to a signature issue. The mayor candidate of the party and the former Jaffna Municipal Council Mayor Mr.V.Manivannan also confirmed that they’ll file a case against the procedure of accepting the nominations.
The nomination of All Ceylon Tamil Congress headed by parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam for Nallur Urban Council, and Point Pedro Pradeshiya Sabha in Jaffna were rejected and they are also expected to go for legal action. For Nallur, the list was cancelled because a female candidate had placed her signature only without mentioning the name.
Parliamentarian Archchuna Ramanathan’s 10 independent groups among 11 submissions have been rejected, and they’re not sure about the next course of action.
However, the returning officer Mr.Maruthalingam Pratheepan stated to the media that they followed the regulations and circular instructions of the Elections Commission and rejected accordingly.