Jaffna May Day: Chances taken and opportunities missed

Sunday May 06, 2012

UNP May Day rally in Jaffna

IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST By Javid Yusuf

The UNPs decision to hold its May Day rally in Jaffna was the subject of a number of taunts from its critics. The SLFP rightly claimed that this was made possible by the Government's achievement in defeating the LTTE. The UNP dissidents, in a 'cutting-the-nose-to-spite-the-face' type of exercise, attempted to undermine the event by efforts to elevate the Premadasa commemoration into a rival event which coincidentally falls on May Day, through distributing handbills in public places and other activities that would convert the usually simple remembrance of its former leader in to an event that would equal the scale of a May Day event.