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by Ananth Palakidnar, Frances Bulathsinghala, Chamikara Weerasinghe and P. Krishnasamy

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Tyronne Fernando commenting on the outcome of the Local Government polls said that it was a clear endorsement for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's peace efforts and the entire country has taught a good lesson for JVP, Sihala Urumaya, and the individuals like Dinesh Gunawardene by overthrowing racial forces.

"Within a period of three months since the General Election, the people of this country have again reiterated their desire for peace by giving much more support to the leadership of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Local Government polls.

The JVP, Sihala Urumaya and the People's Alliance were carrying out all sorts of malicious attacks against the peace process but the people are wise enough to understand the genuine efforts carried out by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to settle the North-East crisis. The outcome of the polls is also a clear message to the LTTE from the people of south, indicating that they are looking forward for peace and expect the positive feedback from the organisation," Mr. Fernando said.

The Leader of the Opposition Mahinda Rajapakse expressing his views on behalf of the People's Alliance to the Sunday Observer on the local government polls said: "Even the people who have voted for the People Alliance have also extended their support for peace.

Our party is not at all against for creating peace in this country. But what I want to point out is that there was corruption, intimidation, violence and rigging had taken place in most of the places. Our party men have been put behind bars and they were not allowed to take part in campaigns, but whatever we gracefully accept the results of the polls despite the bad experiences we came across."

The Tamil United Liberation Front Vice President V. Anandasangari MP making his observations on the Local Government polls on behalf of the Tamil Alliance said: "The people in the south cannot be deceived any more by the chauvinist elements. The judgement given by the people at the polls has highlighted the desire of the entire country for peace.

We the Tamil Alliance consider that the voters have gone beyond racial, religious and political differences and indicated their staunch desire for peace ."

"The victory of the UNF at the local government elections is an endorsement of the policies of the UNF government. It is a call by the people for peace and democracy. We have taken immediate steps to look into the election malpractices alleged to have been conducted by UNF supporters.

We will not shrug off accusations. A high powered commission including the members of the election monitoring bodies - PAFFREL and CMEV will look and investigate further into the matter. Action will be taken against everyone found guilty.

We stand by the promises we made to the people. We are aware that we have not been able to fulfil most of the pledges, within the past three months. Yet despite this the results of the local government election indicate that we have won the confidence of the people. Where the supply of electricity is concerned we are looking at long term plans.

In this area too we stand by what we said about solving the power crisis within 180 days. Progress has been made in this regard with the commitment of the CEB and our goal is to put an end to the power cuts as soon as possible."

I have been out of the country for two months and returned only the day before elections. As such I cannot comment on the conduct of the election. I always accept the verdict of the people. In this case too I accept the peoples' verdict. The PA should have held local elections last year just after the Presidential elections. If they had done so, the PA would have won. In fact if the PA had held Parliamentary elections within three months of the Presidential elections they would have won that too. The PA is suffering for those serious mistakes that were made.

The poor voter turnout at the local polls 2002, indicates that people of this country are tired of elections having to face them on a regular basis, said Tilak Karunaratne of the Sihala Urumaya.

"They have faced three elections during the last six months -the two general elections on October 10 and December 5, and the local polls this year," he said.

Pointing out that only 65 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise, Tilak Karunaratna said the result was not a manifestation of a mainstream public opinion endorsing the Government's peace initiatives.

"The results mean an increase in the number of UNP members in local bodies," he claimed.

Leaders of the trade union-based political parties of the plantaion areas that contested the local government elections agree that the polls was incident free and are emphatic of the polls outcome being clear mandate for peace.

Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) leader and Minister of Estate Infrastructure and Housing, Arumugan Thondaman, was jubilant about their unprecedented victory in the polls. According to the latest results, the party secured 38 seats in various local bodies in the plantation areas, as against 21 in the local government polls held in February 1997.

The results of the polls achieved significant political prominence for the UNF of which the CWC is an important constituent unit. There is likely to be an adjustment of seats between the UNP and the CWC in terms of an earlier understanding reached last month and the CWC would get some more seats as 'replacements', according to party sources.

We were able to have a free and fair election after almost 20 years and voters waited peacefully in polling booths to cast their votes", said Assistant General Secretary of the pro-UNP trade union, the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers' Union (LJEWU), and MP for Badulla, K. Velautham.

The people who cherished peace had voted en-block to the UNF government, had given their mandate to end the 20 year war, he said. 10 candidates of the LJEWU have been elected to eight local bodies in the Uva province.

Central Provincial Council member and General Secretary of the Up-country People's Front (UPF), which is another constituent unit of the UNF government, Murugan Sivalingam, told the "Sunday Observer" that the results of the local government polls clearly indicated the rapid growth and popularity of their party among the plantation workers of the central hill country. Their policies and the path they were treading towards the welfare of the plantation community were being recognised by the younger generation, he said.

Ceylon Democratic Unity Alliance (CDUA) leader and Uva PC member, T.V. Chennan, said that they got themselves registered as a political party just 45 days ago and the polls results indicated their recognition among the plantaion community within such a relatively short period. They polled 13,500 votes in the local bodies which they contested.

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