CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Provincial Council Elections 2008 – A Post Mortem

-Suranimala Yapa

The Election results are out. Voters have given a clear mandate to H.E the president for what he asked for during the campaign- to finish off the war that has been plaguing the country. Though the elections were marred with violence& malpractices, absence of such incidents would not have changed the overall result –i.e victory for Govt & defeat for Opposition.

The majority has decided to further endure the hardships faced due to escalating cost of living & lack of development, which is claimed by the government to be a result of war. Thus it is a duty of the opposition to make a statement that it respects the people’s verdict and cease harping on cost of living, until such time that government is seen genuine in executing the mandate received. However, opposition should continue to keep a check on the corruption & abuse of power which is rampant in government.

President Mahinda Rajapakse has a greater responsibility during this victory. He should be wise enough to realize the following undercurrents of this victory.

In the elections which were held in traditional stronghold of the government, UPFA has received close to 55% of the votes which means 45% has rejected the government Further, UNP has done better than UPFA in gaining new votes & increasing the number of seats-compared with the council elected in 2004 as shown below.

North Central Provincial Council
UPFA managed to increase the votes only by 28,000 when UNP had a more than double fold gain of 62,000. When comparing the increased number of seats too, UNP has fared better than UPFA.

Party Name	2004	2008
United People's Freedom Alliance	22	20
United National Party	10	12

Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council
UPFA increased its votes by 74,000 when UNP had a gain of 111,000. When comparing the increased number of seats too, UNP has fared better

Party Name	2004	2008
United People's Freedom Alliance	28	25
United National Party	15	17

The preferential votes too expose the lower level of popularity of UPFA Chief Ministerial candidates as opposed to the new faces put forward by the opposition.

Thus it is not at all an end of the road to the opposition as state media pundits claim to be & the picture is not overly rosy to the government either. It is hoped that government does not get carried away by its own propaganda.

It is for the betterment of the country that President realizes that this victory is a mandate for war against terrorism and not an endorsement of other activities of his government. The trend may turn otherwise if he doesn’t keep a check on the waste & corruption of his jumbo cabinet and thugs like Mervin Silva. Voters have sacrificed a lot & are enduring hardships due their faith placed in president.

Now that the path is clear, it is expected of the victor to halt sheer politicking and focus its energies in getting rid of terrorism & building this nation which has bled for too long. If the government fails in getting its show on road, the reversal of its fortunes may come faster than we could imagine.

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