A convincing mandate for UPFA on the cards

Elections to the Uva Provincial Council will be held on Saturday. It is not merely an election to a Provincial Council, but decisive in that the masses should be vigilant as those with vested interests, both here and abroad, are yearning to put their agendas in motion.

This could perhaps be the last election before the next Presidential and Parliamentary General elections which are most likely to be held early next year.

Hence, the Uva PC election will be the best opportunity for the masses to show their profound gratitude to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and demonstrate that they would continue to repose faith in the leader who had liberated the country and is going for a record third term.

Tiger cohorts and a section of the Tamil Diaspora are going hammer and tongs to reactivate the separatist ideology after the LTTE was crushed militarily in May 2009. Tiger sympathisers and LTTE leaders abroad are working hand in glove with several international organisations and some Western politicians who depend heavily on the Tamil Diaspora vote.

The LTTE rump has spared no pains to uphold the utopian idea of a separate state. It is still fresh in people's minds how LTTE front organisations abroad lavishly funded several Western politicians and certain international organisations.

Exploiting human rights as an effective tool, the LTTE rump coerced several member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to initiate a unilateral investigation against Sri Lanka. Their sole aim is to take Sri Lanka to task and haul the leaders who had provided the much-needed political leadership to eradicate terrorism and eliminate the LTTE leadership, before an international war tribunal.

Exerting undue pressure on the Government through various international organisations and wooing the support of politicians in certain Western countries who support them is another ploy by LTTE sympathisers abroad.

Three successive US-sponsored resolutions at the UNHRC, had no doubt, rekindled fresh hopes in the LTTE leaders abroad. Although the top LTTE leadership had been vanquished during the 2006-2009 battle against terrorism, the second-rung Tiger leaders abroad are doing their damnedest to strengthen their international network and raise fresh funds to keep their separatist dream alive.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is also making a subtle attempt to adopt the same LTTE stance as the sole representative of the Tamils. The fact remains that neither the LTTE nor the TNA was accepted by the majority Tamil community as their sole representative. When the LTTE subjected the Tamils to untold misery, the TNA did not utter a word of comfort on behalf of its own community and acted as puppets.

In the absence of the LTTE, the TNA, which was at one time remote-controlled by the Tiger leadership from their Wanni hideouts, is trying to win the hearts of the Tamils. But the TNA has done precious little for the Tamils in the North, despite securing power in the Provincial Council.

The upcoming Presidential election has turned out to be a money-spinner for some NGOs and Opposition politicians which are hell-bent on exploiting the UNHRC resolutions to discredit the Government.

Certain Western missions based in Colombo and INGOs have already begun pumping an unprecedented volume of funds. Simultaneously, the Tiger rump will also fill the TNA coffers in the hope that the former Tiger proxy party could keep their separatist dream afloat. Some Tamil Diaspora leaders are under the delusion that the TNA could achieve what Velupillai Prabhakaran and his goons failed in their bloody struggle.

Hence, the country is now at an important crossroad with all eyes of the international community focused on the outcome of the Uva Provincial Council election.

A fresh mandate for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) will not only shatter all those hopes, but also send a clear signal to the international community that their daydreams for a regime change would not materialise in the near future. Hence, it is the duty of the people in Uva to pledge their strong support to the people-friendly Government to thwart international conspiracies.

With terrorism eradicated and the Security Forces' liberating the country from the clutches of LTTE terror under the sagacious political leadership of President Rajapaksa, voters in Uva will get an opportunity to elect their representatives to the Provincial Council. They must weigh the pros and cons and take into account their improved lifestyles after the scourge of terrorism was eliminated. Moreover, the mega development projects launched are taking the country towards new economic horizons.

Considering the President's landslide victory with a majority of over 1.8 million votes at the 2010 Presidential election, and the near two-thirds majority the UPFA had secured at the general election that followed, the masses would undoubtedly further strengthen the hands of the leader who had liberated the nation.

People in Uva should take a close look at the progress Sri Lanka has achieved since President Rajapaksa took office in November 2005, when terrorism was at its peak and the economy in shambles. Since then, Sri Lanka has recorded unprecedented development in all spheres.

Winning the forthcoming Provincial Council election would send another clear signal to the international community on the country's stability and economic development.

Although President Rajapaksa could continue as the Head of State till November 2016 and the UPFA Government with a two-thirds majority in Parliament till April 2016, the President prefers to get a fresh mandate next year.

Hence, it is the bounden duty of one and all to give the ruling party a fresh mandate not only at the Uva elections but also at the two major elections scheduled early next year.

Insidious elements, both here and abroad could descend to the lowest level if power in the Provincial Council goes into the wrong hands. This could pose a threat to the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Hence, it is of utmost importance that people extend their sincere support to the leader who saved the nation with the right political leadership.

Disgruntled Opposition politicians are now teaming up with certain Western forces, whose prime objective is to get rid of those who does not dance to their dictates. Those who love this country should sink differences and unite at this decisive hour.

Certain Western countries, which attempted to resuscitate the moribund LTTE till the last stages of the Security Forces' battle against terrorism, did their utmost to have a 'leader' who would sacrifice anything and everything to appease the West. With providence, Mother Lanka thwarted such conspiracies in January 2010 and President Rajapaksa won a thumping six million votes, and a fresh mandate. He could no doubt equal this feat in his third attempt.

The time is now opportune for voters to teach a good lesson to all sinister forces - both here and abroad, who work according to their hidden agendas. The masses, no doubt, will give a convincing mandate to the UPFA again with an absolute majority at the Uva Provincial Council to counter Western conspiracies and usher in economic prosperity.