News
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Lots
of heat over hot seats in councils Both the People’s Alliance and the UNP are facing a crisis in finalising the nomination lists with two or more people battling it out for the mayoral and chairmanship posts. In some previous elections, political parties had sorted out this problem by announcing that the candidate who got the highest number of preference votes would be the automatic choice for the top slot. With nominations scheduled to close on February 16, The Sunday Times learns that the nomination boards of political parties were under pressure to consider some names over others. In Kurunegala, UNP organiser MP Johnston Fernando is reportedly promoting Deputy Mayor, A.M. Gunasekara as the mayoral candidate as against the former mayor, Nimal Chandrasiri de Silva. Mr. de Silva in turn has threatened to contest the elections under the PA along with four other former council members, Abdul Cader, Sumedha Arunashantha, M.K.Jayawardene and Varuna Premaratne.Charging that he is not being nominated for the top post because of a personal issue with the MP, Mr. de Silva has warned that the UNP will be defeated for the first time in 35 years. In another twist to the battle, some of the SLFPers have threatened to crossover to the UNP if the dissident UNP members joined the PA. The UNP controls power in the Kurunegala MC with nine members as opposed to three from the SLFP. The JVP which is contesting on its own has expressed confidence of returning a few members to the council. However JVP Kurunegala district MP Bimal Ratnayake said their list of candidates is yet to be finalised. In Galle, both the UNP and the PA have decided not to field a mayoral candidate with more than one person expressing interest in the position. According to reports, on the UNP side, the current mayor Arif Ismail, his deputy Fawzool Niyas and member Prasanna Seneviratne are embroiled in a tussle, while from the PA ex provincial councillor Lalith U.Gamage, president of the Galle YMBA Sarath Dias, and present leader of the opposition Methsiri are also in the fray for the mayoralty. In the Galle district, there will be as many as 244 contestants for the 20 local govt institutions. Besides the 17 Pradeshiya Sabhas, elections will be held for the Galle Municipal Council and Hikkaduwa and Ambalangoda town councils. There
are two new Pradeshiya Sabhas in the Galle district. The former
Habaraduwa Council has now been delineated as Habaraduwa and Demaluwa,
while the former Karandeniya Council is now known as Welipitiya
and Divithura. At the last elections Mr. Aluvihare received the highest number of preferential votes. Former Mayor Harindra Dunuwila’s name also has been mentioned as a possible contender for the post, but there has been no confirmation of his candidature. From
the PA, former Parliamentarian and ex-Provincial Minister Thilana
Tennakoon and the current opposition leader in the Provincial Council
Sena Dissanayake are the two key contenders for the Mayrol candidate’s
position. For
the JVP former veteran cycle champion, N.Karunaratne is to contest
for the Mayoral post. In Matara the former UNP Mayor Nimal de Silva
has stepped down and the chief contender from the UNP is ex-Deputy
Mayor Nandasena Sellahewa. He is reportedly facing stiff opposition
from a section of the former councillors of the party who have threatened
to step down. Ex-Opposition leader in the Matara MC, Upul Nishantha
will contest from the PA. The Sunday Times learns that the Anamaduwa Pradeshiya Sabha chairman’s post is one of the most hotly contested seats. There are reports that deputy minister D.M. Dassanayake is trying to win over an ex chairman Gamini Wadigamangawa (brother of Asoka Wadigamangawa, the leader of the opposition in the NWP council) and promote him as the PA nominee for chairmanship. In the UNP there are reports that area parliamentarian Range Bandara was promoting Ranjith Bandara as the party’s nominee for chairmanship. Meanwhile in Wennappuwa, the highest revenue-earning council in the district, there is close competition between the PA nominee Trevin Fernando and the UNP candidate Hector Appuhamy. However
there appears to be little enthusiasm in areas of Karuwalagaswewa,
Nawagatthegama and Vanathavilluwa. It is reportedly quite a different
story in Arachchikattuwa where there is a close contest and hence
the fear of even thuggery in days to come. Janaka Soysa chairman
of the Chilaw Council has created an uproar by resigning from the
UNP and seeking nomination from the PA. His move has created tension
among PA candidates and supporters. The PA’s decision to join the SLMC in contesting for the Kalpitiya – Puttalam Council has reportedly caused tension among PA supporters. Meanwhile ex UNP mayor Quintus Appuhamy of the Puttalam MC has decided to come on the PA ticket causing tension among other PA members. For
the Ratnapura Municipal Council, the UNP is fielding a team led
by Nimal Dayawansa, a former Mayor. At the last local council elections,
the UNP nomination list was rejected due to a procedural fault and
some UNPers contested under the Liberal Party ticket. For the PA
another former Mayor Chandradasa Jayasinghe will be contesting as
the Mayoral candidate. Reports
by Gamini Mahadura, Pushpakumara Jayaratna, Shane Seneviratne, Hiran
Priyankara, Athula Bandara, Diyage Sumathipala, Shelton Hettiarachchi
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