* As the Good Governance (Yahapalanaya) of President Maithipala Srisena and Ranil Wickremasinghe has lost the confidence of the people of this country.
* Tamils have rejected Rajapaksa and also majority of the Muslims in the country too have ignored him -again.
* It became clear that the majority of this councils under ITAK control are hung councils and it would not be possible to form the rule without the support of Douglas Devananda’s EPDP or with Gajendraumar’s All Ceylon Tamil Congress.
* As far as Tamil areas are concerned people demand for a change in the leadership.Misplaced rhetoric at the highest level shoots down 'Yahapalanaya'
By K.T.Rajasingham
Colombo – Jaffna, 12 February, (Asiantribune.com):
At last, the long awaited local government election in the country is over and by a political quirk of fate, the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has suddenly returned to the national limelight by winning most of the local bodies as well as councilors.
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| Maithri - Ranil - Mahinda |
Mahinda Rajapaksa is fully aware that the results do not reflect the mood of the people towards the dissolution of Parliament, yet he has brazenly politicalized Sri Lanka Podujana Perumuna (SLPP)’s victory and succeeded in confusing the people.
10,576,862 people were eligible to cast their vote at this election, and 57,252 candidates contested for a total number of 8,356 members for 340 local government bodies.
According to the latest results, SLPP led Mahinda Rajapaksa has secured 4941952 votes which is 44.65 % of the total and won the control of 225 local bodies out of 340 local government bodies. They include municipal councils, urban councils and pradeshiya sabhas-40 Urban Councils, 24 Municipal Councils and 276 Pradeshiya Sabhas.
Mahinda Rajapaksa also campaigned in the North, but has failed to secure any sympathy from the Northerners. As usual, the Tamils have rejected him and also majority of the Muslims in the country too have ignored him -again.
The Elections Commission did not release a final tally of the results but in-house calculations showed that the UNP won 37 LG bodies and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) bagged 28 Local Government bodies. The SLFP secured only seven Local Government bodies.
Also SLPP a newly formed political party, and its candidates contested for the very first time and were in the fray in the Local elections , contesting in the ‘Lotus bud’ symbol and more than 3369 candidates won the local government councilor seats, out of the available 8,356 councilors-doing far better than the “Good Governance” (Yahapalanaya) led by President Maithripala Srisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.
It is rightly alleged that the rhetoric of President Maithripala Srisena cost him his election victory as well as that of the United National Party.
Mahinda Rajapaksa also campaigned in the North, but has failed to secure any sympathy from the Northerners. As usual, the Tamils have rejected him and also majority of the Muslims in the country too have ignored him -again.Someone might have advised him to be harsh on UNP and brand everyone in the Party as ‘culprits’, involved in the ‘Bond Scam.’
But what he failed to understand was that he too was part and parcel of the scam-as he was the authority who appointed Ranil Wickremasinghe as the Prime Minister, soon after he won the Presidential elections in January 2015. Furthermore, until such time the report of the scam was released Maithripala Srisena was the President and Head of State and even today he is the President and Head of State.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is fully aware that the results do not reflect the mood of the people towards the dissolution of Parliament, yet he has brazenly politicalized Sri Lanka Podujana Perumuna (SLPP)’s victory and succeeded in confusing the people.
When the magnitude of the scam was exposed, he as President and Head of State did not come forward to take moral responsibility the loss of state fund and resign his position as the situation warranted.
Instead he took up the position as the modern ‘Angulimala’ who in the end transformed himself into sainthood.
President Maithripala Srisena took up a ‘Holier than Thou’ position once he received the Bond Scam Report and began to nauseate on the UNP, Prime Minister Ranil Wickrmasinghe and on all those in the UNP who practically created his Presidency. In return the vindictive stance adopted by him has led to expose him that he has no voter base and his position as the party leader of SLFP too no longer tenable.
The United National Party led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe was at the receiving end after the Bond Scam report and the party’s position was shaken due to the imbroglio with President Srisena on one side and on the other, due to the sharp and poignant attacks by the ‘Joint Opposition’.
President Maithripala Srisena took up a ‘Holier than Thou’ position once he received the Bond Scam Report and began to nauseate on the UNP, Prime Minister Ranil Wickrmasinghe and on all those in the UNP who practically created his Presidency.When the magnitude of the scam was exposed, he as President and Head of State did not come forward to take moral responsibility the loss of state fund and resign his position as the situation warranted. Instead he took up the position as the modern ‘Angulimala’ who in the end transformed himself into sainthood.
In the elections UNP polled 3612259 votes which amounted to 32.63 % of the total votes polled and 2385 candidates managed to win and also won the control in 37 local government bodies including the prestigious Colombo Municipality.
In the meantime President Maithripala Srisena’s SLFP and United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) managed to win only 9 local bodies. The UPFA polled 989,821 votes which was 8.94 % of the total votes polled and 674 of the Party’s candidates won. At the same time SLFP polled 491,835 votes taking 4.44% of the total votes and winning 674.
The results were unexpected for President’s camp but for many political analysts, was a foregone conclusion from the very moment he started the verbal duel with UNP and the Prime Minister.
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| Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Jaffna for SLPP elction rally. But the Tamils in the North flatly rejected him |
Northerners started longing for a change and began to discard the appeals of the aging leaders of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi. Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance is in his early eighties.
Similarly the leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi S, Mavai Senathirajah would be 76 years on coming 6th October. The third in the ITAK troika is none other than M.A,Sumanthiran who is the spokesman of the TNA and one of ITAK's two Assistant Secretaries in September 2014. It was this troika which control the local government body elections for the other two constituent parties of the Tamil National Alliance. They failed to pay heed to the concerns of their political alliance leaders and was almost dictatorial in the selection of the local bodies and candidates. Now it has become evident that the aging leaders of the ITAK has failed to read the mood of the voters, especially the new voters who have exercised their franchise for the first time.
Northerners started longing for a change and began to discard the appeals of the aging leaders of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchchi. Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Tamil National Alliance is in his early eighties.It is reported that now people are calling for Sampanthan and Mavai Senathiraja to give way to youngsters. They also call for Sumanthiran to play a bigger role than simply trying to safeguard the UNP and its leadership at all times.
In the North & East ITAK was able to poll 339675 which was 3.07 percent of the total votes cast and 407 of their candidates won in the election and in a position to administer 28 local bodies in the North and in the East.
When the results were analyzed it became clear that the majority of this councils under their control are hung councils and it would not be possible to form the rule without the support of Douglas Devananda’s EPDP or with Gajendraumar’s All Ceylon Tamil Congress.
As far as Tamil areas are concerned people demand for a change in the leadership.
- Asian Tribune -
