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Mostly smiles but a few pouts as Uva nominations close
Public meetings and house-to-house campaigns have got off at steady pace for the Uva Provincial Council elections, with some candidates celebrating new alliances and others disappointed at the poor yields from decisions to switch parties.
Two supporters of UPFA chief candidate Sashindra Rajapaksa worship him after he handed over his nomination. Pix by Palitha Ariyawansa
A total of 617 candidates handed in nominations by Wednesday’s closing date and prepred themselves for the elections fixed forSeptember 20.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has decided to contest under an alliance with the All Ceylon Muslim Congress and the Upcountry Muslim Council. The grouping is known as the Democratic United alliance (DUA).
“It was the initiative of the people of the Badulla district,” said SLMC General Secretary Hasen Ali.
“In this district there are around 50,000 Muslim voters. We don’t want to split the votes.
“The coalition has nominated 21 candidates for this election. Among them are 10 from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. Roni Maharoof is contesting as our chief candidate.”
All Ceylon Muslim Congress leader Rishad Bathiudeen said under the DUA his party was expecting at least two seats in the Uva council.
“Our campaigning activities will start by next week and we are expecting to work with our partner partiesoin the same platform,” he said.
UNP’s Harin Fernando heads to a temple after handing over his nomination
The National Freedom Front (NFF), following negotiations with the Government, decided to contest under the UPFA ticket in the Moneragala district and to contest on its own in Badulla.
NFF spokesman Mohammed Muzammil said: “As a follow up to our 12-point proposals which we handed in to the SLFP, we gave them another action plan to implement these proposals. They have accepted 90 per cent of the proposals.”
“Tomorrow (August 11) we are going to begin our campaign with the theme, ‘New path’. Our leader, Wimal Weerasinghe, and our party’s senior leaders are going to participate in this event in Badulla,” said Mr. Muzammil.
W.M. Udayakumara, the former National Freedom Front (NFF) member in the Uva Provincial Council who crossed over to the SLFP after NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa put forward his 12-point plan to the Government, was a disappointed person.
JVP candidates just before handing over nominations
“I signed the nomination papers on Monday to contest as a UPFA member and less than 12 hours before the nominations closed I was informed that my name had been removed from the list. I was surprised,” Mr. Udayakumara said.
“I knew that the NFF leader (Wimal Weerawasna) was bargaining with the government. Therefore I was eventually left out. I decided to field a group of independent candidates as I was deprived of a nomination,” he said.
The UNP’s chief Ministerial candidate will be former MP Harin Fernando, but the Badulla district list will be led by Ravindra Samaraweera, a former MP and onetime deputy minister, and the Moneragala district list by former Provincial Council member Ananda Kumarasiri.
The UPFA chief Ministerial candidate will be Sashindra Rajapaksa, the former chief Minister, while the JVP chief ministerial candidate is former MP Samantha Vidyaratna.
United National Party (UNP) leadershipcouncil chairman Karu Jayasuriya said his party would kick off its formal campaign launch on August 16 in Badulla.
“We have already started our campaign activities in the province, but in this campaign leader Ranil Wickremasinge and other senior party leaders including Sajith Premadasa have been invited to address our meetings,” he said.
“Our main slogan in the election will be, ‘Upgrading living conditions of the people’.”
The independent election monitoring body, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), accused law enforcement authorities of failing to take action against people who were engaged in processions and vehicle parades on nomination day.
CaFFE Director Keerthi Tennakoon also said the threats made against Kurunegala Deputy Elections Commissioner Namal Thalanganama were “not a healthy start for a free and fair election”.
“This is very disturbing – now the Election Department officials can’t work independently and they are frustrated,” he said.
Additional reporting :
Palitha Ariyawansa