The elections to the three provincial councils have thrown up no surprises. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s ruling Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has swept to victory in the Sinhala dominated the north-central and central councils while its victory march was checkmated by TNA and SLMC in the Tamil majority Eastern province, and it fell four-seats short of absolute majority. The verdict in the Northern Province will be no different as and when the election is held for that regional council as well.
In a manner of speaking the Eastern Tamils have given a clear message to Colombo. And it is that the President and his advisors should entertain the Tamil National Alliance at the negotiating table without much ado. This is the inescapable conclusion because Rajapakse’s party had won the Eastern Provincial Council in 2008, shortly after driving Tamil Tigers out of the coastal region and forced them to be confined to the island’s north. Four years down the line the landscape has changed. The Tigers have become history as the Sri Lankan army decimated them and eliminated their megalomaniac leader along with his son. The TNA, which was branded as the LTTE proxies during the war years, has changed its colour and complexion and became an active mainline party.
Voting in Saturday’s ballot was brisk. Above 50 percent of the one million plus electorate covered by the one-day poll exercised their franchise. These assembly elections were due in 2013 but were advanced by ten months.
In the Eastern province, the UPFA secured 14, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) 11, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) seven, the United National Party (UNP) secured four, and the National Freedom Front (NFF) one. The UPFA was backed by Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Santhirakanthan alias Pillaiyan of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP, which was emerged out of LTTE with some prompting from President Rajapakse) and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, a Deputy Minister in the Rajapaksa government who was previously one of the top commanders of the LTTE.
In the Sinhalese-dominated Sabaragamuwa province, the UPFA won 28 seats, the UNP got 14, and the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) bagged two.
In the North Central Province, also Sinhalese- dominated, the UPFA’s scored 21, the UNP 11 and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna remained contented with just one seat.
The president’s party will form the government in Sabaragamuwa and North Central Province on its won. The TNA may like to flex its muscles in the Eastern province and try to cobble up a majority. But it is unlikely to succeed since the Muslim SLMC is partner in the ruling coalition in Colombo. There is no reason for SLMC to desert the UPFA in the East. More over by being with Rajapakse’s Alliance, it will be able to keep its flock together. Such a strategy will also checkmate any plans of the UPFA to engineer a majority to pass the halfway mark in the 37-member assembly since it is short by just four seats.
Going by media reports, the TNA may still make an effort at government formation.
TNA spokesman Suresh Premachandran told the media that the UNP had pledged support and that his party was talking to the SLMC also. These parleys are unlikely to succeed
A close look at the final picture shows that TNA’s constituent Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) made major gains in Batticaloa district. It has won six of the eleven seats at stake and improved its vote share as well. UPFA managed four seats and the SLMC picked up one seat. ITAK has put up impressive show in the two other districts of Eastern Province.
In Trincomalee, ITAK won three seats – the same numbers that were bagged by the UPFA. Amongst the other parties, SLMC cornered two while UNP and the far-right Sinhala party NFF won one seat each. In Ampara, the Tamil party won two seats while the UPFA walked away with five seats and the SLMC cornered four seats. UNP, the United National Party, has put up a spirited fight and ended up with three berths in the regional legislature which has a limited autonomy.
-yamaaraar
