UNP monopoly will end this time

by Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr.Rajitha Senaratne said that the UPFA will reverse the trend in Colombo and other local bodies which had been dominated by the UNP for decades.

Earlier, the minority ethnic groups voted for the UNP. But this is changing rapidly today. It all started in my electorate, Beruwala when the UPFA won the Beruwala Municipal Council with a majority of 3,600 votes at the Local Government polls recently.

The UPFA won Harispaththuwa too, a predominantly Muslim electorate, the Minister told the Sunday Observer.

Dr.Senaratne said that the Muslims are cognizant of the development work launched by the UPFA government under President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is also the President of the Palestine Solidarity Movement. President Rajapaksa stood for the Muslim world when no other Leader elected to do so.

Despite pressure from the West President Rajapaksa continues to stand by the Palestine people and support their right for a separate state.

For this reason, Muslims should vote for the UPFA and extend their support to the President to win all the 23 local government bodies. At present the Tamil vote has been divided since the TNA

has aligned itself with Mano Ganeshan in Colombo. The Tamils who wish to vote for the UNP will vote for Mano Ganeshan, he said.

The Minister said that the UNP has been traditionally dependent on the so-called minority votes of the Muslims and Tamils in Colombo. This trend has changed and most of the Muslim and Tamil communities in Colombo and other areas are now with the UPFA. An analysis of the past election results in the North, will show that the UPFA never had political support in the North and it had been under the UNP throughout. However, the UPFA for the first time could obtain 30 percent of Tamil votes at the recent local government elections which is a clear indication that the minorities will no longer vote for the UNP.

Minority communities acknowledge the leadership of President Rajapaksa irrespective of their party affiliations. Since the political landscape is changing rapidly, the UNP will have to face the reality on October 8, the Minister said.