UNF, UPFA confident of victory

Both parties sure of securing 113 seats:

JVP says party key to ensuring power balance:

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The two main political groups, the United National Front (UNF) for Good Governance and the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) are both confident of securing a 113 –member working majority to form the next government, post August 17.

Both parties exuded confidence, saying they will be able to garner enough seats to form a stable government and that tomorrow’s parliamentary election will only provide electoral proof of their political strength.

UNP Media Spokesman, Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam told the Sunday Observer, the UNP-led United National Front for Good Governance alone would secure more than 113 seats. He attributed this to the vote base of the UNF being further strengthened during the final week of its election campaign and to the expansion of its constituent allies.

Kariyawasam also said, once the UNF obtains a clear majority, as per intentions expressed both by the President and the Prime Minister, a national government will be formed to “execute a national agenda.”

In the past week, several prominent supporters of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and provincial politicians joined the UNP, expressing their support to a new alliance, he said, indicating the momentum.

“Despite President Mahinda Rajapaksa contesting from the Kurunegala District and leading the UPFA election campaign, nearly 30 UPFA Pradeshiya Sabha and Provincial Council members joined the UNP, including the Deputy Mayor of the Kurunegala Municipal Council, Kariyawasam pointed out. Countering the UNF position, UPFA Kurunegala District Candidate T. B. Ekanayake said, the mammoth crowds that rallied around the UPFA following the induction of the former president into the UPFA election campaign, indicated the UPFA’s winning streak.

“The UPFA stands for a unitary state, economic prosperity and territorial integrity, all of which are strengths that can be converted into political success,” Ekanayake told the Sunday Observer.

He said, the alliance formed by the UNP with a few other political parties has failed to cater to the aspirations of the people. “They failed the people in seven months and the results will be reflected in the electoral outcome.”

While the two main parties remain confident of forming the next government together with their constituent allies, the country’s third political force, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) believes, while it will not form a government, it will clearly hold the key in ensuring the power balance in the House and will form the main Opposition in Parliament.

JVP Propaganda Secretary and Gampaha District candidate, Vijitha Herath, told the Sunday Observer, both the UPFA and the UNFwould fail to form a government post August 17 and will be looking for more partners to muster a working majority.

Herath said, though both parties appear to believe in their strength to form a government, the new alliances and breakaway groups have only contributed to public confusion and an erosion of trust.”

The JVP Propaganda Secretary said the JVP would comfortably form the next Parliamentary Opposition and it will be the strongest Opposition Sri Lanka had seen in a while.

“It was just three JVP MPs who played the role of the Opposition in the previous Parliament and the JVP will secure more seats this time. “This will naturally erode the seats of both the main parties,” he said.