{"id":135243,"date":"2014-12-20T12:24:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-20T06:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=135243"},"modified":"2014-12-20T13:01:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T07:31:43","slug":"residents-from-low-income-housing-projects-threatened-to-vote-for-mr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/residents-from-low-income-housing-projects-threatened-to-vote-for-mr\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents From Low-Income Housing Projects Threatened To Vote For MR"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a desperate attempt to secure the declining voter base, residents of low-income housing projects in Colombo have been threatened into voting for President Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Gotabaya\"<\/a>

Gotabaya Rajapaksa -Secretary to Ministry of Defence and Urban Development<\/p><\/div>\n

Colombo Telegraph learns that military personnel have been visiting the homes in low income housing projects for the past few weeks, and threatening the residents into voting for Mahinda Rajapaksa. The residents had been told the \u2018authorities\u2019 possess the names, personal details and polling card numbers of all the residents and that their votes will be monitored. They had been informed further that if the \u2018authorities\u2019 find out that their votes have been cast to any other candidate except MR, they would have to suffer grave repercussions.<\/p>\n

It has also been revealed that residents of Tamil ethnicity have been particularly targeted through this intimidation campaign and told that they would be removed from Colombo if they do not support MR.<\/p>\n

This intimidation campaign resonates with a remark made by the eldest Rajapaksa \u2018prince<\/span><\/a>\u2019 during a rally where he claimed that those from low-income housing projects who vote for any other candidate except his father, should be thrown out of their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the President that these people should be relocated somewhere else if they don\u2019t vote for us . . . they can\u2019t be voting for someone else when it is we who have built their houses. . .\u201d he says during a rally, conveniently forgetting that it is not the personal funds of the Rajapaksas that funded the construction but tax payers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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