JVP satisfied with its improved performance
The JVP yesterday maintained that once again it has been able to expand its vote base and seats at Saturday’s Uva Provincial Council Election since the last Southern and Western Provincial Council elections despite threats and harassments it suferred at the hands of the ruling UPFA.
Addressing a media conference at the party headquarters at Pelawatte, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, flanked by General Secretary Tilvin Silva and Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath, said that their votes had increased to 36,580 in the Uva Province by 21,941 compared to the 2009 provincial council election, where it polled 14,639.
The number of seats secured by the party, too had increased from one to two, he said.
Dissanayake said that in the Badulla District the JVP’s vote bank had increased to 20,625 votes from 9,007 in 2009 and in the Moneragala District from 5,632 to 15,955 compared to the previous Uva Provincial Council election.
The JVP parliamentary group leader said that in the Badulla and Moneragala Districts the JVP had polled 4.67% votes and 6.61% respectively and it was 2.36% and 2.82% at the previous PC polls there.
“We had only one member in the previous council representing the Badulla District, but this time we got a member from the Moneragala District, too,” Dissanayake said.
The JVP leader said that people had rejected the government’s policies and activities especially during the election period by refusing to give it a huge majority. In the Moneragala District the votes of the UPFA had dropped to 58.34% from 81.32% in 2009. In the Badulla District the UPFA votes dropped to 47.37% from 67.79% in 2009.
An important point was that the majority of people in the Badulla District had rejected the ruling UPFA, as Opposition parties together polled the majority of votes against the UPFA, Dissanayake said.
The number of UPFA’s seats in the council had dropped from 26 to 19 despite the Up Country People’s Front contesting on the UPFA list, he said, adding that UPFA’s seats in the Moneragala District had dropped to eight from nine even with three seats being added to the district from the Badulla District few weeks prior to the election.
The JVP leader said that the government had used the election to test water before the presidential election expected early next year, but it had failed to secure all electorates as in previous provincial council elections.
He said that the country’s worst Provincial Council election was the North-Western Provincial Council election in 1999, but the latest Uva provincial Council election came first for using public properties and state officials in the campaign.
(Courtesy: The Island)
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Sri Lankans are very ungrateful and coward.
JVP is standing at every means for poor and working class. JVP is the best party in the world;they don’t get any salary and no any corrupt people there. No smokers and drinkers.
When government is increasing electricity bill, when government is planning to abolish EPF, when government is planning to abolish pension scheme, JVP is demonstrating for poor for farmers and working class.
But they vote for other parties.
They could have voted more for JVP, if they are decent grateful people.
Anybody can criticize. Sri Lankan people are very good at that. But how many people have the courage to do something. JVP is a party that only talks but don’t know how to run a government.If the JVP is given power to run this country, they will not last even one year because their politics are not practical. The JVP took several Ministries into their hands during President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s time. What happened? They gave it up because they couldn’t manage. Of course, I too believe the JVP should be in Parliament to criticize the wrong doings of whatever government (UPFA or UNP) that is in power because without criticism that Government will do all kinds of wrong things without fear. So JVP is only good for the opposition and NOT as a Government. That is why only a small percentage of the people vote for the JVP.The people of Sri Lanka have more sense than you think.