ACMC surges to a new high in local polls: Rishad

Tuesday, 13 February 2018 00:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

ACMC strategy to partner with UPA has worked
ACMC dramatically increases its local Govt seats by 137%

The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) has captured a new crop of local government seats with resounding wins –along with a dramatic surge in its local government presence in the just concluded polls.

With the latest wins, the number of ACMC seats in local government bodies rise greatly to a grand total of 159 - a 137% increase in local seats from ACMC’s previous 67 local government seats.

“Our strategy of forming the UPA has worked. I thank our voters in all 15 districts for placing their trust in ACMC giving us these wins,” said ACMC leader and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen when he met ACMC officials in Colombo on 12 February. “I also thank UNP Leader and our PM Ranil Wickremesinghe as well as United People’s Alliance Chairperson M.T. Hassan Ali and United Peace Alliance (UPA)’s Basheer Segu Dawood for partnering with us,” Bathiudeen added.

ACMC’s strategy of creating the United Peace Alliance (UPA) to enter the Ampara district in the critical Eastern Province, formulated by party leader Bathiudeen, has also paid off well as the newly formed UPA clinched 31 seats in its maiden entry to the district.

In the Ampara district, ACMC partnered with the United Peace Alliance (UPA) led by Basheer Segu Dawood, forming United People’s Alliance (UPA) with M.T. Hassan Ali as its Chairperson, and won the 31 seats polling more than 40,000 votes. Previously, ACMC held only one local government seat in the Ampara district.

Bathiudeen led the formation of United People’s Alliance (UPA) on 10 December 2017 as the leader of ACMC.

In the latest polls, ACMC has also bagged three Local Government Bodies in Mannar district using 21 seats it won - Museli Pradeshiya Sabha, Mantai West Pradeshiya Sabha and Mannar Pradeshiya Sabha. ACMC contested with UNP in nine districts – Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Colombo, Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Batticaloa. It faced the polls on its own in five districts - Trincomalee, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy and Kurunegala.

Contesting with the UNP, ACMC won 93 seats in nine districts – Mannar, 34 (and secured three Pradeshiya Sabhas); Vavuniya, 17; Mullaitivu, 12; Jaffna, 1; Kilinochchi, 2; Colombo, 2; Anuradhapura, 4; Puttalam, 8; and Batticaloa, 13. In Batticaloa district, ACMC won one more seat contesting alone. In Trincomalee district, ACMC contesting on its own won 18 seats, while securing 8 seats in Kandy alone. ACMC contested in Kurunegala, Kandy and Kalutara districts for the first time and bagged 15 seats right away (Kandy, 8; Kurunegala, 5; Kalutara, 2). ACMC contested alone in these three districts in its first ever entry.