SLPP set to sweep Elpitiya PS poll

• Over 70% of over 50,000 registered voters cast ballot 
• SLPP leading in all 17 wards up for grabs 
• Party set to control 232 local authorities out of 341 

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was set for a sweeping victory in the Elpitiya Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) election yesterday, leading in all 17 wards, giving the party a major boost ahead of the 16 November Presidential Poll.

Over 70% of registered voters cast their votes to elect 28 members to the PS. Voting took place at 47 polling centres. Votes were counted in the polling booth itself and the final count was done at the Elpitiya Vocational Training Centre, the main election centre.  Poll monitoring groups said Election Day was peaceful with no reports of any major election law violations. 

Five parties, namely the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), United National Party (UNP) Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Democratic United National Front (DUNF) and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), contested the election.

The Elpitiya PS election could not be held along with the islandwide local authorities poll held in February last year after the Supreme Court (SC) issued an interim injunction preventing the election after considering action filed challenging the rejection of its nomination papers by one of the contesting parties.

The case concluded in August this year with the SC issuing an order quashing the Galle District Returning Officer’s decision to reject the Democratic United National Front (DUNF)’s nomination papers. Action was filed by DUNF Secretary Ariyawansha Dissanayake and two others.

The SC also directed the National Election Commission (NEC) to hold the election for the Elpitiya PS without delay.  

There are 53,384 registered voters in the Elpitiya PS area. 

The SLPP swept the 2018 February poll winning 231 of the 341 local authorities with nearly 45% of the votes cast. With Elpitiya PS, the SLPP will now have control of 232 local authorities.