UPFA Wins Sri Lanka's First Eastern Provincial Council Elections

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) obtained a majority of seats in Sri Lanka’s first ever Eastern Provincial Council in elections held yesterday (May 10). The UPFA led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a majority of electorates in the Batticaloa and Digamadulla Districts, while the Opposition United National Party won a majority in the Trincomalee District, giving overall control of the Provincial Council to the UPFA.
There was a turnout of more than 60 per cent of voters at yesterday’s poll that was held under free and fair conditions, according to elections authorities, polls observers and most of the media.
The UPFA led by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) contested in alliance with the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TVMP - Tamil People’s Liberation Tigers) which is the breakaway group from the LTTE, representing Tamil of the Eastern Province, which has abandoned terrorism and accepted the democratic process.
In elections of the local government bodies of the Eastern Batticaloa District in March this year, the TVMP fared well in all local bodies it contested, winning a majority in the Batticaloa Municipal Council that now has a mayor from the TVMP.
The Opposition United National Party (UNP) led by Ranil Wickremesinghe contested the Eastern Provincial election in alliance with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. This defeat adds to a string of more than 12 consecutive electoral defeats by the UNP.
This is the first time an election for a provincial council to the Eastern Province was held. It followed the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces in 1996 on an order by the Supreme Court, which held that the temporary merger of the two provinces since 1987 was illegal. The Security Forces later liberated the entire Eastern Province from the control of the LTTE in 1997, dealing major blow to the separatist, terrorist outfit.
The campaign of the UPFA in the eastern election focused on the government’s success in liberating the East from LTTE, restoring democracy there after 20 years of LTTE under the terror of the LTTE, and the major developments programmes launched there by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
According to official results already announced, the UPFA has won a majority in all three electorates of Kalkudah, Batticaloa and Padirippu in the Batticaloa District; the electorates of Ampara, Sammanthurai an Pottuvil in the Digamadulla District, and Seruwila in the Trincomalee District.
The UNP won the electorate of n Kalmunai in the Digamadulla District and Trincomalee and Muttur electorates in thee Trincomalee District.
The UPFA has won 6 seats from the Batticaloa District and 4 seats from the Trincomalee District. The UNP has won 5 and 4 seats respectively in these two districts. The JVP and the Tamil Democratic National Alliance (TDNA) won 1 seat each in Trincomalee. The seat allocation in the Digamadulla District, where the UPFA has won a majority of votes, has yet to be announced. The overall winner in the Province, the UPFA, will also get two bonus seats.

Source: Government of Sri Lanka