Tussle for Uva Provincial Council

By Jaliya Wijekoon

The Provincial Council System was introduced under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in 1987 during former President J.R. Jayewardene's regime with the signing of Indo-Lanka Peace Accord as a solution to the long drawn out problem of Northern and Eastern people of the country.

Sasheendra Rajapaksa

However, the desired results were not achieved by the first North-East PC which had only a short life span and functioned under the Chief Minister Vartharaja Perumal who later went against the Central Government and finally it was dissolved by President R. Premadasa.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) vehemently opposed the PC system when it was first introduced and even refrained from contesting the election in 1988.

As the main opposition SLFP and JVP didn't contest the election at that time, it was virtually a one horse race for the UNP to capture power in all Provincial Councils at the first ever PC elections held in 1988. According to the Provincial Council Act of 1987 a substantial amount of administrative powers were devolved to the Councils and the perks and privileges enjoyed by the councillors were also quite equivalent to that of parliamentarians.

Second PC elections

All political parties began to actively involve in the Provincial Council elections to capture power for their parties. After completing the stipulated period of 5 years all PC elections were held except North and East and UNP managed to retain the power in all councils though not with a bigger majority at the first instance. Thereafter, the Provincial Council system got deeply rooted in the political fabric of the country.

Uva Province was a UNP bastion at that time and the Provincial Council was headed by a party stalwart Percy Samaraweera. The Chief Minister Percy Samaraweera had rendered a yeoman service to the Uva Province in respect of agriculture, education, healthcare, irrigation and plantation. The gradual deterioration of the ruling UNP's popularity in the Uva Province began with the demise of Percy Samaraweera whilst the national political fabric of the country had already been consolidated under the leadership of Chandrika Kumaratunge.

Third PC elections

Harin Fernando

The third Provincial Council election was held in April 1999 and ruling UNP lost power in all provinces. Notably the UNP lost power in Uva Province marginally when compared to other Provincial Councils in the country. The UNP polled 137,437 and registered a 43.78 percentage while PA polled 140,293 obtaining 44.69%. JVP polled 19,224 with a percentage of 6.12 in Badulla district. Moneragala District also suffered a similar defeat in 1999. In Moneragala District UNP polled 65,870 and registered a percentage of 44.31 while PA polled 66,870 with a percentage of 45.35. JVP polled 10,292 and secured a percentage of 6.98. With the final result of both districts in Uva Province and with two bonus seats PA managed to form the administration in Uva Province.

Samaraweera Weerawanni, a parliamentarian at the time was appointed Chief Minister by President Chandrika Kumaratunge for which the legal action was initiated by some councillors with no avail.

It should be noted that provincial development activities were carried out by the council under Chief Minister Weerawanni amidst unending problems from his own party people for reasons best known to themselves. Then Weerawanni resigned from CM post and joined UNP, his previous party and Chandrika appointed A.M. Buddhadasa the Chief Minister.

The council was prematurely dissolved and was under a special commissioner for well over six months.The 4th Uva Provincial Council was held on 10th July 2004 in which time the JVP had joined the government to form UPFA. UPFA recorded an easy victory in Badulla District in 2004 polling 169,197 and registering a percentage of 55.48 while UNP polled 119,171 securing only 39.08 percentage.The performances of the UNP at Moneragala district in 2004 was still worse and polled only 48,930 votes recording a poor percentage of only 33.12 while the UPFA recorded a percentage of 66.24 polling 97,878 votes.

Fifth PC elections

Samantha Vidyarathne

UPFA mustered a clear majority in the Uva Province in 2004 and Vijith Wijeyamuni Soysa was appointed Chief Minister by the President Chandrika Kumaratunge.

The fifth Uva Provincial Council election was held on 8th August 2009 and the JVP has deserted UPFA by that time over some policy matters. UPFA government was extremely popular at the time with the eradication of terrorism which had been a cancer to the nation for almost thirty years.

UPFA fielded Sasheendra Rajapaksa as CM candidate and he was backed by all party stalwarts in both districts at the election.

The main Opposition UNP was riddled with a number of internal problems at the time and the party was reduced to an abysmal level at the Uva PC election in 2009.

In Badulla district UPFA polled a staggering 259,069 votes recording an unprecedented percentage of 67.79 while the UNP polled only 98,635 votes reducing its percentage to a mere 25.81.

In Moneragala district the UNP's performance is even more pathetic as the party had polled only 30,509 votes with a percentage of 15.52 while the ruling UPFA polled a massive 159,837 votes registering a record percentage of 81.32. JVP was marginalised with only 2.87% in Moneragala District without a single member being elected.

UPFA secured 25 seats in the council while UNP obtained only 7 seats with one each for JVP and Upcountry Peoples Front. Large-scale development activities had been carried out in the province under the leadership of CM Sasheendra Rajapaksa during the last 5 years.

Uva Provincial Council has completed its current period and the election is scheduled to be held on September 20.

Ruling UPFA, main opposition UNP, JVP, DP, Upcountry Peoples Front and quite a few other registered parties and some independent groups are aggressively involved in the fray to capture power in the province on September 20.

Unlike the previous PC elections this time it is extremely important for both major parties as this is going to be the last PC election prior to Presidential election scheduled to be held early next year.

All major parties believe that the results of this Uva PC election will have a great impact on the results of the next National election. Uva PC election will be a dress rehearsal for the big contest.

NFF contest the Uva PC elections with the government in one district and on its own in the other district for reasons best known to themselves. Political violence among some groups has already erupted in some areas and it is quite clear that the things will be even worse in the run up to the election.

All political parties have agreed with the Elections Commissioner on the need to conduct the campaign following the accepted ethics although there are negative incidents taking place.Political analysts believe that the fame and good fortune in politics is rather fickle and whoever who manages to convince the masses with the future program of work would emerge victorious on September 20.