Monday, 23 September 2013 01:10
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Harin claims party didn’t lose but the people did
The United National Party (UNP) yesterday said it had suffered a setback at Saturday’s provincial council elections, but would make use of the results to review its stand and strengthen the party.
UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told journalists that his party had suffered a setback but one had to accept that the ruling party had also suffered a somewhat similar fate.
Accordingly, he said the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had lost a seat in the Kurunegala District compared to the 2009 elections. He recalled that the UPFA got 24 seats in Kurunegala in 2009 but only 23 seats in the district this time around, reducing its percentage of votes to 69% compared to more than 70% it had secured in 2009.
He said the situation was the same with regard to the Kandy District where the Government had got only 16 seats compared to 18 in 2009. In the Matale District he said the ruling party’s percentage had dropped to 59% from the 68% in 2009.
MP Harin Fernando stated that the public had failed in their “responsibility” to send a message to the Government and that at the same time the Government had once again managed to “deceive” the people during this election.
Even after taking former UNP MP Dayasiri Jayasekara over to their side, the UPFA Government lost one seat in the North Western Provincial Council, he said.
“We don’t see this as a loss for the UNP but a loss for the majority of the people,” the Parliamentarian told reporters in Colombo.
He stated that the UNP’s strength has not reduced in any way and that they have managed to retain it, however conceded that they have not been able to increase that strength.
General Secretary Attanayake also expressed his gratitude to the UNP supporters, activists and organisers who had “faced various challenges” in the run up to the election in the three provinces and had supported the UNP amidst all the hardships.
He stated that the United National Party did not accept the concluded election as a completely free and fair election. “There are numerous reasons for this,” he said.
He charged that the military was used to create immense pressure in the war-affected province and that it was not a small issue.
In the North Western and Central Provinces the ruling party used its Government influence to engage in election campaigning, he said.
The UNP MP said the fact that the Government organised liquor ‘dansal’ was a “popular secret” and that it had also used the ‘Deyata Kirula’ exhibition and distributed various equipment to influence voters.
He conceded that the United National Party has faced a certain drawback from the results of the polls, although it was not a general election or a regime-changing election.
“However, we do not consider this as a factor which will affect a national election,” Attanayake added.
UNP Communications Chief MP Mangala Samaraweera, who was also present at the press conference, stated that the votes cast against the Government in all three provinces collectively indicated that even in a provincial election the opposition can reach a percentage of around 40%.
He stressed that the margin between the votes against and for the Government was close to just 350,000.
He stated that it also went to show that the Opposition led by the UNP would be able to win the presidential election next year and other future elections and that all Opposition parties had to unite in one stage for this purpose.
