Uva Results Not Rosy For The Government
Dr. Laksiri Fernando
When looking at the results of the Uva Provincial Council elections, there are two main conclusions that emerge very clearly. First is that the unity within the opposition United National Party (UNP) has tremendously uplifted the voter confidence for that party against the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA). Second, going by or extending the same observation, unity among all or most of the opposition parties might be the key to defeating the incumbent government in the future.
These conclusions are projected, particularly the second one, considering the fundamental necessity to change the government to preserve and promote democracy, human rights and national reconciliation in the country. It is erroneous to assume that deceitful policies of any government would automatically pave the way for a change of that government.
Clear Trends
In three polling divisions in Badulla District – Badulla, Hali-Ella and Welimada – the UNP has won the elections, and won decisively. That was not the case at the last PC elections in 2009. All divisions were grabbed by the UPFA with huge majorities. This time, even in the polling divisions where the UPFA has won, their voting percentages have dwindled, and dwindled considerably. Let’s focus on that fact first.
It is in the Passara electoral division in the Badulla District that the UPFA has won comfortably, yet only with a 16 percent margin. However, its voter percentage has decreased from 65 percent to 56 percent. 56 is the highest percentage that the UPFA has achieved in any division this time, compared to 74 percent last time in Mahiyangana, and with a district average of 68 percent. In Mahiyangana itself, the voter percentage has come down this time from 74 to just 51 percent.
In terms of actual numbers in Passara, in 2009, 23,959 people voted for the UPFA, but this time the number has decreased to 23,188. One may consider that is not bad or stable and at least they had won! But in contrast, the number of votes for the UNP has increased from 9,736 to 16,426. From where and how did the UNP manage to increase their voter base? It is possible that some of the traditional supporters (no voting before) and some of the newly registered young voters voted for the UNP this time. In both cases the party unity must have been a decisive factor among others.
Passara was the least favorable case for the UNP in that district and let us look at where they have clearly won – Badulla, Hali-Ella and Welimada – in the following table.
