![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/sunil-kannangara-colombo-telegraph1.jpg\" "\\"Sunil")
<\/a>Including those in Ampara - Kannangara GA Ampara<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe president\u2019s campaign had ordered eight GA\u2019s including those in Ampara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa to send election results directly to the president\u2019s house for his review before sending them to the Election Commissioner.\u201d the US ambassador wrote to Washington. <\/strong><\/p>\n The US ambassador Patricia A. Buttenis and USAID Mission Director met with about ten business representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ampara District and made a separate call on Ampara Government Agent Sunil Kannangara less than a week before the presidential election 2005.<\/p>\n The leaked cable classified as a \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d by the ambassador Patricia A. Buttenis under the title of \u201cELECTIONS IN AMPARA: INTIMIDATION AND WEAK ALLEGIANSCES\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBusiness representatives reported that Iniya Barathy, Karuna\u2019s second in command and Rajapaksa campaign coordinator, controlled 600 to 700 armed supporters and had created a climate of intimidation that precluded any expression of support for the opposition. On the other hand, support for Rajapaksa appeared weak\u201d Ambassador Patricia further wrote.<\/p>\n 30.45% and 67%<\/p><\/div>\n Rajapaksa\u2019s chief opinion pollster and close advisor Sunimal Fernando said to the US embassy in less than a week before the election, the President was doing very poorly in the East, mainly due to the corruption issue. Read the Colombo Telegraph story yesterday; http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/10\/02\/wikileaks-%E2%80%9Crace-is-neck-and-neck%E2%80%9D-rajapaksa%E2%80%99s-chief-pollster-sunimal-fernando\/<\/a>\u00a0 However Rajapaksa received 67% and Fonseka received 30.45% in Ampara district. See the election results here; \u00a0http:\/\/www.slelections.gov.lk\/presidential2010\/13A.html<\/a><\/p>\n The private lawyer of the Election Commissioner, Elmore Perera challenged the EC Dayananda Dissanayake<\/strong> <\/strong>just after the presidential election (26 January)<\/strong> <\/strong>to appear live on TV and truthfully divulge to the country where, and with whom, Disanayake and his wife were between 3.30 p.m. on 26th January 2010 and 4.45 p.m. on January 27th 2010. Read his challenge here; http:\/\/transcurrents.com\/tc\/2010\/03\/where_and_with_whom_were_you_a.html<\/a><\/p>\n Read the full confidential cable below;<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,57,1,27],"tags":[6986,1143,1139,1208,1161,1135,1185,1206,1197,1132],"class_list":["post-420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-corruption","category-global-politics","category-law-and-order","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag-anti-corruption","tag-authoritarianism","tag-democracy","tag-election-monitoring","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-mahinda-rajapakse","tag-patricia-a-butenis","tag-presidential-election-2010","tag-sarath-fonseka","tag-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000048\n\nSIPDIS\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\n\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 01\/22\/2020\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> EAID<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\nSUBJECT: ELECTIONS IN AMPARA: INTIMIDATION AND WEAK\nALLEGIANCES\n\nCOLOMBO 00000048 001.2 OF 002\n\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)\n\nA VIEW FROM AMPARA DISTRICT\n----------------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (SBU) Ambassador and USAID Mission Director met with about\nten business representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and\nIndustry in the Ampara District in eastern Sri Lanka and made\na separate call on the Ampara Government Agent (GA), Mr.\nSunil Kannangara. Ampara has fewer Tamils than its eastern\nneighbors Batticaloa and Trincomalee, but its ethnic\ndiversity (41 percent Muslim, 40 percent Sinhalese and 18\npercent Tamil, according to the 2005 census) makes it a\ncomplex campaign ground.\n\nA CLIMATE OF FEAR\n-----------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) Business representatives reported that Iniya Barathy,\nKaruna's second in command and Rajapaksa campaign\ncoordinator, controlled 600 to 700 armed supporters and had\ncreated a climate of intimidation that precluded any\nexpression of support for the opposition. On the other hand,\nsupport for Rajapaksa appeared weak, as the promise of Rs\n3,000 and dry rations for each attendee at his January 15\nmeeting lured only 500 villagers. Tamil voters in particular\nwere expected to vote against the president rather than for\nFonseka. Business representatives predicted opposition votes\nfrom 85 percent of Tamils, 65 to 90 percent of Muslims, and\nhalf the Sinhalese.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) Security incidents raised concerns, which the GA was\nworking to control. On January 17, buses returning from an\nopposition rally were reportedly attacked by motorcycle\nriders throwing bricks and 30 to 40 boys charging with\n\"swords\" as they passed through police checkpoints. The\nattackers were apparently alerted to the buses' location by\ncell phone from the buses. On the same day, 25 Fonseka\nsupporters were injured and one shot in the leg, but it was\nunclear whether this was part of the bus incident. The GA\naimed to prevent violence through police action and crowd\ncontrol. Contacts noted, however, that while the 70 to 80\npolice in the area were trying to do their jobs, 25 to 27\npolice had themselves been attacked. The GA planned to\nprohibit meetings and gatherings from January 23 until one\nweek after elections.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) Approximately 420,000 of 627,000 people in Ampara\nDistrict were registered to vote, but some expected that fear\nof violence would keep many voters home on election day. A\ngroup of 59,000 \"home guards\" were expected to \"protect\"\nSinahalese areas. The guards were reportedly headed by\nCommander Sarath Weerasekera, the local Sri Lanka Freedom\nParty (SLFP) organizer.\n\nELECTION PROCEDURES\n-------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>5. (C) As Returns Officer for Ampara District, the GA was\nresponsible for organizing and overseeing the election. He\nplanned 20 coordinating centers throughout the district, with\nofficers poised to investigate fraud allegations. He also\nwas responsible for reviewing reports of complaints and\nirregularities documented by the senior president of the\npolling centers, local observers, police and others, and\npassing them on to the Elections Commissioner. After polls\nclosed, ballots would be taken from polling stations to\ncounting centers. One contact stated that the president's\ncampaign had ordered eight GAs (including those in Ampara,\nAnuradhapura, Polonaruwa and Batticaloa) to send election\n\nCOLOMBO 00000048 002.2 OF 002\n\nresults directly to the president's house for his review\nbefore sending them on to the Elections Commissioner. Other\npotential irregularities included voter identification fraud,\nstuffing of ballot boxes, and removing ink marks in order to\nvote multiple times.\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"