Elections arouse little enthusiasm in northern Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s northern region, finally cleared of Tamil guerrillas, goes to the polls next month for the first election to local councils in 11 years, but the contest has failed to excite remaining residents not displaced by the fighting. “The people aren’t interested. They have too many problems on their hands,” said a lawyer by telephone from the northern town of Jaffna, nearly 400 km from the country’s capital, Colombo.