• Crowds Colombo amid rain, court order, water cannons, tear gas
• Sajith claims struggle will end with poll victory    

The main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) held a protest yesterday (20) in Colombo amidst Police water and tear gas attacks and heavy rain, urging President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Government to ensure the democratic right of the people and to therefore hold the Local Government (LG) election as scheduled, warning also that yesterday's protest was only the beginning of a struggle to defeat the Government's attempts to postpone the said election.

Supporters of the SJB who came from different parts of the country gathered near the Technical Junction in Maradana (Colombo 10) last afternoon. The group of protestors, including Parliamentarians representing the SJB attempted to march towards Colombo Fort by foot, and at that time, more than 300 Police officers had been deployed to completely block the road leading to Colombo Fort near the Railways Department headquarters, thereby preventing the protestors from marching forward. At that time, there was a heated exchange of words between the protestors and the Police. By this time, Police Special Task Force (STF) officers and Army personnel had also been deployed along the road. 

Heavy rain fell in the area where the protest was being held at that time, and after a while, the Police fired tear gas and used water cannons on the protestors. Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa, SJB General Secretary and MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara and several other MPs later queried a high ranking Police officer who was present at the site as to based on whose orders had the Police fired tear gas and used water cannons on the protestors, but the relevant Police officer failed to provide them with an explanation. When he said that the Police had to disperse the protest to maintain law and order, Premadasa and the others were seen telling the Police officers that the protest was completely peaceful. Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa had told the media that tear gas and water cannons had been used on the protest as the protest was blocking the road and causing inconvenience to the public. 

Amid tear gas firings and the use of water cannons by the Police, the group of more than nearly 1,000 protestors remained in place holding placards and chanting protest slogans against Wickremesinghe and the Government. The Police officers who were completely blocking the road at that time, stated that they could not allow the protestors to move towards Colombo Fort as the road could be blocked.

Speaking during the protest, Premadasa said: “Today, instead of following timid and cowardly politics, we took to the street and started our struggle against the Government. We have the right to take to the street. We do not need any permission to do so. We would like to make it clear that we took to the street today to ensure the right of the people to vote. This journey, which we started today, will definitely end by winning the LG election. If anyone thinks that we are afraid of tear gas and water cannons, they should remember well that my father (slain President Ranasinghe Premadasa) sacrificed his life on the road. We are not afraid of bullets or bombs. We ask the President and the Government to facilitate the LG election immediately. We are not just struggling to get it, we are fighting.”

Several SJB MPs including S.M. Marikkar, Thushara Indunil Amarasena and Harshana Rajakaruna, former MP Mujibar Rahman and Samagi Vanitha Balawegaya National Organiser Hirunika Premachandra also expressed their views during the protest. They said that Wickremesinghe was attempting to suppress the protests by deploying the Police and said that the SJB was however ready to take all necessary steps to win the right of the people to vote. They also said that it was certain that the SJB would achieve a great victory in the upcoming LG election, which they said would pave the way for their victory in the next Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court had, considering a request made by the Colombo Fort Police, issued an order preventing several SJB MPs from holding protest demonstrations, causing inconvenience to pedestrians or vehicular traffic, last morning. According to the Police, the order had been issued preventing seven SJB politicians and their supporters from entering the President’s Office, the President’s House, the Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies Ministry premises or the Galle Face Green in Colombo, and engaging in any act that causes public disorder.

The Election Commission (EC) had yesterday informed the Supreme Court (SC) that it was likely that it would not be able to conduct the LG election on 9 March as announced earlier. This notification had been made to the SC in the wake of the EC not receiving the required funds from the General Treasury, and the Department of Government Printing refusing to print ballot papers without receiving the relevant payment in full, along with Police security. However, a considerable number of Police officers and Army personnel had been deployed for the security of the Government Printing Department as of last evening.