WPC polls :

Opposition parties face uphill task

Wijitha NAKKAWITA

The Western Provincial Council election campaign entered the final phase with only three weeks remaining for the election day but the opposition political parties were facing an uphill task with thousands of their supporters joining the UPFA almost each day, senior Government ministers said yesterday.

A large group of UNP members of the Western Province, numbering about 6,000, mainly from the Kalutara district met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees Friday after obtaining membership in the main UPFA political party the SLFP.

Minister of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Dinesh Gunawardena said the election result would be a landslide victory of the UPFA and the Opposition campaign appeared to be non-existent.

Minister of Power and Energy W. D. J. Seneviratne said the UPFA would win the election with a bigger majority than ever before.

However, at one of the few recent public rallies held by the UNP at Biyagama the party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he intends to develop the Gampaha district making Biyagama the epicentre of the district’s development programs - after the UNP comes to power with a majority once the present government was defeated by the UNP.The novice UNP candidate Ruwan Wijewardena who was quoted saying at the rally that there was a massive war going on in the country and a severe economic crisis was created making the people helpless.The JVP also held a meeting at Biyagama during the week and the leader Somawansa Amarasinghe said there were no corrupt persons in the ranks of the JVP.

The Colombo district JVP candidate Duminda Nagamuwa said the government was dressed in the garb of patriotism but was selling public property for its existence.

However, a large cross section of the public asked for their opinion on the Western Provincial Council election campaign said they believed the UPFA would easily win the election. Some of the UNP supporters asked to comment refrained from making comments but a few among them said the UNP was strong in the Colombo district and could win the election.