DEW rejects claims of ethnic and religious divide

by P. Krishnaswamy

National Integration and Constitutional Affairs Minister DEW Gunasekera strongly condemned claims by constituents of the 'unholy' UNA alliance that the whole country was divided on ethnic and religious lines consequent to the January 26 Presidential poll. These political parties were making such irresponsible and inflammatory statements intended at rousing communal sentiments for their political gains at a time when national unity and ethnic amity has been restored at very high cost, shedding blood and lives of thousands of our valiant soldiers.

Apparently the TNA, which is a well-known LTTE proxy , and other chauvinistic parties are making such unpatriotic and anti-democratic statements aiming at the next parliamentary elections, with total disregard for political stability and welfare of the State, the Minister said.

Explaining that these claims are unfounded, the Minister said that:

"In the 1982 Presidential election, Presidential candidate Hector Kobbekaduwa got only twenty percent of the votes polled whereas President Mahinda Rajapaksa polled twenty-five percent in the last Presidential election. Of the total registered voters in the Northern Province nearly fifty percent were not physically present- either they were in other districts or gone overseas. Twenty-five percent of those who were present were disinclined to vote mainly due to the frame of their mind after the war and displacements. Of the total over 185,000 valid votes, 25 percent voted for President Rajapaksa which is a considerable percentage in the context of the fact that there has been no communication or interaction between the Government and the Northern people for over 25 years and they were inclined to vote for any candidate the political parties close to them wanted them to vote."

President Rajapaksa has also polled a considerable percentage in the Eastern province, the Minister said pointing out that in Sammanthurai he polled 27,000 as against the 20,000 he polled at the 2005 Presidential election.

It is also incorrect to say that the plantation community voted against President Rajapaksa. He was personally aware that in the Kotapola Pradeshiya Sabha area in Deniyaya, which comes under his constituency, the plantation workers voted en-bloc for President Rajapaksa in spite of the fact that the JVP conducted its vigorous propaganda campaign among them.

In the plantations of the central hill country too, the percentage polled by the President has increased considerably compared to the 2005 Presidential election, other than in the Nuwara Eliya Polling District, Minister Gunasekera said. However, the votes polled by the UNA has dropped down to 52 percent, compared to the 70 percent polled by Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe in the 2005 Presidential election, the Minister said.