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Govt. narrowly retains Uva PC

*UNP shows signs of recovery
* JVP distant third, DP suffers setback

September 21, 2014, 10:33 pm

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The SLFP-led UPFA retained the control of the Uva Provincial Council (UPC) at Saturday’s election.

The UNP made significant gains in the Badulla District which the UPFA won with a majority of 11,348 votes. The UPFA, however, polled only 209,056 votes (47.37%) while the UNP secured 197,708 votes (44.79%) and the JVP obtained 20,625 votes (4.67%).

The UFFA won 19 seats (nine in Badulla and eight in Moneragala including two bonus slots) to retain the control of the UPC. The UNP obtained 13 seats (eight in Badulla and five in Moneragala) while the JVP came a distant third by winning a seat each in Badulla and Moneragala Districts.

Of the nine electorates in the Badulla electoral District, the UNP comfortably secured three, namely Badulla, Welimada and Hali Ela. The UPFA won all three electorates in the Moneragala District.

Former Army Commander General (Retd.) Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party (DP), Housing Minister Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front (NFF), which contested in the Badulla District on its own as well as the Democratic Unity Alliance (DUA), which is a coalition of UPFA constituents, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and All Ceylon Muslim Congress (ACMC) failed to win any seats.

Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem’s SLMC and Industries and Commerce Minister Rishard Badurudeen’s ACMC decided to go it alone.

Minister Weerawansa fielded a team of his own in Badulla to pressure the SLFP to implement what he called a 12-point plan meant to compel the UPFA’s dominant partner to change its policies. However, a last minute agreement between the SLFP and the NFF made the latter field one candidate on the UPFA list in the Moneragala District.

The UPFA polled 209,056 (47.37%) to narrowly win the Badulla District where the UNP and the JVP obtained 197,708 (44.79 %) and 20,625 (4.67 %), respectively. However, the ruling coalition received an overwhelming 140,850 (58.34 %) in the Moneragala district whereas the UNP obtained 77,065 (31.92 %) and the JVP 15,955 (6.61 %).

The UPFA was at a disadvantage in Badulla due to three of its constituents, the SLMC, the ACMC and the NFF depriving the ruling coalition of 9,880 votes which they polled among them. The SLMC-ACMC coalition which contested under the DUA symbol obtained 5,045 votes, while the NFF polled 4,835 votes.

In spite of a good performance at the recently concluded PC elections to the Western and Southern Provinces, where it outshone the JVP, the DP managed to obtain 3,202 and 2,874 votes and Badulla and Moneragala districts, respectively.

At the 2009 Uva PC polls the ruling UPFA secured 25 out of the 34 seats in the council with a 72 % of votes.

Addressing the media at the SLFP headquarters, UPFA General Secretary and Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premjayantha acknowledged that the coalition had been deprived of 9,880 votes due to the SLMC, ACMC and the NFF in the Badulla District. Responding to a query by The Island, Minister Premjayantha insisted that the UPFA would definitely have their support at forthcoming national level elections in the future.

Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya recently said that the country would have national level election next year.

Having compared the votes obtained by the UPFA and the UNP at the last Uva PC polls Minister Premjayantha said that the ruling coalition had more than double the number of votes polled by the UNP. "Even if you add votes polled by the JVP and the DP to the UNP’s lot, we have an absolute majority."

Asked whether the UNP could have done even better in Badulla if not for Election Secretariat’s decision to increase the number of elected members in the Moneragala District by three at the expense of Badulla District, Minister Premjayantha said that the UPFA, too, had suffered as a result because it had been able to field only a single new ‘face’. The minister said the number of nominees had been reduced due to the number of elected being brought down to 18 from previous 21 in Badulla.

Commenting on the so-called estate vote, the UPFA General Secretary emphasised that the ruling coalition had received a substantial number of votes contrary to claims by the Opposition. The minister pointed out that the UPFA had comfortably won Passara, where there was a substantial number of Tamil voters. The leading estate party the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) contested Uva on the UPFA ticket, he added.

Minister Premjayantha said that the UPFA performance at the Moneragala District had been much better than in Badulla because the UPFA Chief Ministerial candidate, Shasheendra Rajapaksa, represented Moneragala. The minister noted that the UPFA was represented by two ministers in Badulla.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=110720