Masses re-endorse Mahinda Chinthana policy:

President hails voters for resounding victory

by Dinesh WEERAWANSA

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday paid tribute to all who voted for the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and those in the provinces who worked tirelessly to achieve a landslide victory at Thursday’s Local Government elections.

The President said the voters across the length and breadth of the country have again endorsed the Mahinda Chinthana policy statement and the Government’s new Sapiri Gamak - Supiri Ratak (abundant village, self-sufficient nation) policy, with the prime objective of making Sri Lanka the miracle of Asia.

It was an added feather in the UPFA’s cap as the ruling party’s popularity continued to soar under the illustrious leadership of President Rajapaksa. The UPFA secured power in 205 of the 234 Local Government bodies on Thursday.

The main Opposition - the United National Party (UNP) which contested the election amidst a severe internal power struggle for party leadership, won only nine LG bodies while the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was ahead of them having secured power in 12 LG bodies - The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (4), National Congress (2), Up-Country People’s Front (1) and an Independent Group (1) won the remaining LG bodies. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) failed to secure power in any LG body and even lost the Tissamaharama Pradeshiya Sabha which was under their control.

Political observers described the resounding victory of the UPFA as a personal triumph for President Rajapaksa, its leader, whose visionary statement - the Mahinda Chinthana, has been endorsed again by people across the island.

The General Secretary of the SLFP, Minister Maithripala Sirisena said the Mahinda Chinthana policy has again emerged as the most pragmatic political strategy in Sri Lanka and is aimed at winning the economic war having eradicated terrorism.

According to political analysts, President Rajapaksa’s dynamic political leadership to eradicate LTTE terrorism and unite the country had been the hallmark of his ruling UPFA’s success at the recent elections - Provincial Councils, general elections and the Presidential polls.

Simultaneously, the government’s right economic policies and widespread mega development projects implemented across the country have won the people’s hearts.

The development drive with a truly Sri Lankan identity, blended with a new foreign policy, has won unprecedented public support. The UNP conceded that it had suffered a major setback at the LG polls.

UNP’s General Secretary Tissa Attanayake said that the party had lost several local government bodies by slim majorities.

“However, we will not deny the setback by taking these points as excuses, “he was quoted as saying. Political observers said that the President’s decision to hold elections on a regular basis and obtain fresh mandates from the people has increased his popularity immensely since he was first elected in November 2005.

President Rajapaksa has demonstrated his faith in democracy in no uncertain terms by conducting elections prior to the scheduled dates or even earlier.

The fact that the Rajapaksa administration holds elections even before the due dates, seems to have given a headache to the Opposition parties - mainly the UNP and the JVP which had lost over 25 elections consecutively. This has led to an internal power struggle in the UNP with its leaders trying to apportion blame on each other.

Now that the UNP has a track record of losing elections, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa would invariably put the blame on each other and attempt to trade charges against each other.

Several UNP organisers said that their party seniors should be held totally responsible for the ignominious defeats at successive elections.

At Thursday’s elections for 234 LG bodies, the UPFA polled 3,036,159 votes to record 55.49 percent while the UNP polled only 1,860,817 - 34.01 percent. The JVP suffered its worst election defeat in recent times securing only 164,321 (3.01 percent) votes.