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DATE=10/11/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-267762

TITLE=SRI LANKA VOTE (L-ONITER)

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=COLOMBO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Election officials in Sri Lanka say final results from Tuesday's parliamentary election will be delayed by one day, due to widespread reports of vote rigging and poll violence. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from Colombo, both of the main parties contesting the election are heading for a close finish, with neither able to produce a majority in parliament.

TEXT: Sri Lanka's Election Commissioner says it will take at least a day to sort through the reports of widespread fraud and violence, which appear to have resulted in a number of races being annulled.

Local independent observers say there were numerous documented cases of irregularities. Arjuna Parakrama of the Center for Monitoring Election Violence says the problems were widespread and serious.

/// PARAKRAMA ACT ///

Situations like ballot boxes being taken away

from the polling stations, and bombings of

polling stations. There were about seven

murders on election day. There was organized

rigging and the systematic impersonation of

election personnel, as well as the taking over

of, or literally capturing, of polling stations

by armed militias -- so I think this is

significant.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Parakrama says the ruling People's Alliance was responsible for most election day violations, but other parties were also involved. Five-thousand candidates were running for 225 seats in Parliament. The election was called by President Kumaratunga after Parliament refused to ratify her proposals to change Sri Lanka's constitution to grant more autonomy to Tamil majority areas in the north and east of the country. Mrs. Kumaratunga says her proposal is the best way to end Sri Lanka's long-running civil war with Tamil separatists.

About 75-percent of the results have been tabulated so far. They show the ruling People's Alliance, led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the United National Party, led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in a race too close to call. This has led to speculation that the final result, when it is announced, will be a hung parliament for Sri Lanka. (Signed)

NEB/JLT/WTW