SLPP sweeps wards in South, UNP comes in at second place while UPFA comes a distant third

The recently formed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa swept a majority at the local government wards in the south.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi retained its voter base in the Northern Province while the United National Party gained support in urban areas.

The Hambantota Municipal Council of the Hambantota District was claimed by the United National Party with 5,909 including 9 members, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna acquired 4892 votes claiming 7 members.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance gained 2336 votes claiming 4 representatives while the JVP obtained 872 votes with 1 member.

In the Badulla Municipal Council of the Badulla District the United National Party obtained 9379 including 9 members, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna acquired 8482 votes claiming 8 members.

The UNP won four wards under FPP, SLFP won two under PR and EPDP won one seat under PR which means ITAK will have six seats, but the UNP-SLFP-EPDP combine will have seven seats.

The SLPP, the breakaway faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) took an early lead winning most of the wards in the Southern, Uva, Sabaragamuwa, North Central and North Western Provinces, while the United National Party (UNP) fared better in urban areas and was expected to win some of the bigger municipalities.

The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi also obtained 6,292 votes claiming 9 members for the Maritimepattu Pradeshiya Sabha of the Mullaitivu District, the United National Party obtained 2,833 votes claiming 3 seats, an independent group received 2,636 votes gaining 3 members, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna claimed 2,067 votes claiming 2 members, the Tamil United Liberation Front received 1,819 votes with 2 members, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party or the EPDP obtained 1,686 votes with 2 councillors while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party gained 1,235 votes with 1 representative.

The SLFP-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) of President Maithripala Sirisena took a heavy beating across the island, coming a weak third while the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuma (JVP) came fourth in most provinces outside the North and East. In some councils, however, the JVP was expected to pip the UPFA to third place.

There was no official announcement of the election results even by midnight on Saturday. Additional Elections Commissioner M. M.Mohamed said the delay was due to the complexity of allocating seats under the Proportional Representation (PR) system for 40 percent of the seats in the councils.

The SLPP won all the wards under the revived FPP system in the Matara district, except in the Weligama Urban Council where its nomination papers had been rejected. In the Galle district, too, the SLPP won the wards, except in the Galle MC. In the Hambantota district, the SLPP won a majority of the wards, except the Hambantota UC, which went to the UNP as the main party. In the Nuwara Eliya district, the UNP was leading, while in the Matale district, the SLPP was in the front. In the Puttalam district, except for the Puttalam MC, the SLPP was leading in all other councils as counting continued beyond midnight.

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