General Secretary confident of winning major elections:

UPFA on strong footing

by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

The Minister of Education and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary Susil Premajayanth and the Minister of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services and General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Maithripala Sirisena expressed tremendous confidence in the UPFA gaining landslide victories in the Presidential and Parliamentary polls.

They also added that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has the prerogative to call for a Presidential Poll after the completion of four-years in November this year of his six-year tenure.

Parliamentary elections should be held before April 2010 since the six-year period of the present Parliament ends on April 2, 2010. Political analysts strongly believe that the next Presidential election may be held before the Parliamentary election immediately after the Southern Provincial Council election which will be held before the end of October 2009.

When contacted by the Sunday Observer the UPFA General Secretary and Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha said that the President has the prerogative to call for a Presidential election after completion of four years of his six year tenure. President Rajapaksa completes four years of his tenure in November this year.

The UPFA General Secretary said that ex-Presidents J.R. Jayewardene and Chandrika Kumaratunga set the precedent calling on the Elections Commissioner to hold Presidential elections before the end of their tenure.

Speculation of a Presidential election has gathered momentum with political observers pointing out that the post-war period running upto 2010 has ideally swung in the UPFA’s way with President Rajapaksa’s popularity soaring in the eyes of the people following the crushing of LTTE terrorism.

This has gathered support with the public beginning to enjoy a type of freedom of movement that had precluded them due to the three decade long cancer of terrorism.

In this backdrop observers also point to the recent statement by the General Secretary SLFP and Minister of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services Maithripala Sirisena that the UPFA is confident of securing a two thirds majority at a General Election.