Three leading political parties, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the United National Party (UNP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) are formulating strategies for the upcoming Local Government (LG) elections.
Assistant Secretary of the SLFP, P. Gamage said his party is interviewing people with the aim of selecting the best candidates to contest the LG elections.
The Sunday Times spoke to several prospective candidates from the Puttalam district who had gathered at SLFP headquarters for the selection process.
T.G. Karunkatha, a school principal and a longstanding grassroot activist of the SLFP, said that he wants to assist in the development of his village by entering politics, adding that, his fellow villagers too had appealed to him to contest the election.
I.M. Perera from Ambakada Village said that, since 1994, he has been involved in SLFP activities and feels its time for him to actively engage in politics.
General Secretary of the UNP, Tissa Attanayake stated that women and youth candidates will be given priority when giving nominations.
He said the UNP would concentrate in areas where it had a good chance of winning.
Mr. Attanayake said the Government had not fulfilled its election pledges and burdened the people with high inflation.
He stated that people should vote for the UNP, so as to balance the scales of power.
JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath stated that the JVP will choose candidates drawn from all ethnic groups to contest the upcoming poll.
Among those who will contest under the JVP ticket is former MP Lakshman Nipuranachi.
The JVP list will be finalised by January 17. The Party will contest in all districts including the North and East.
The JVP campaign will include house-to-house canvassing, public rallies and pocket meetings, as well as poster campaigns.
“The aim of the campaign is to bring a new era into Sri Lankan politics, as people have realised that the open economic policies of the UNP and SLFP have failed”, MP Herath said.
He added that the political system of the country too needs to be cleansed and made less corrupt. |
E-mail
