Election is one of the best justifications to show there is democracy in a country. This also gives an opportunity for an ordinary citizen to franchise his right.UVA provincial council election results tell many stories. But some try to mislead the people by publishing wrong information about election outcome.
Those days, elections were held to bring down the prices of bread and rice. So elections focused on hungry. These were the observations made during 1970-80s. Hungry was the main topic , those days during election campaigns. The interesting point is that, Those politicians who campaigned using these slogans also won the election. Now if you use the technique , people will not vote for you. Those are cheap campaigns to obtain temporary gains. But now, things have changed a lot. People have matured a lot. They show much advanced attitudes. The demands have differed. People look for long term solutions for important issue. This shows patriotism which is good. People have suffered enough during war time. Now they wanted to have peace and harmony. These days, most common election manifestos have something to talk about the war and peace.
Uva provincial council election outcome
The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance has claimed victory in the Uva Provincial Council.
However, the UPFA has lost 6 seats in comparison with the number of seats it had in the last provincial council.Along with the two bonus seats for securing the highest number of votes in the province, the UPFA has a total of 19 seats with the total number of votes standing at 349,906.This is a clear majority and it is enough and sufficient to run the council without any problems.
The UNP won 13 seats in the Uva Provincial Council with their total votes numbering 274,773.The JVP has received two seats with their total votes numbering 36,580.
The Democratic Party did not win any seats in the Provincial Council.
While the UPFA has lost out on six seats in comparison with the number of seats it held at the last provincial council, the UNP has gained six seats.
The JVP which had a solitary seat in the last Uva Provincial Council, now has two.
There is no two definitions for a win and loss. A win is always a win. A party which wins highest number of seats will be declared as Wining “Party”. On the other side a party which has less number of seats than winning party , is declared as “losing party”. Accordingly , for UNP , this is the 29th defeat at an election.
Some opposition elements are trying to show UNP defeat as a victory. In a defeat there is no 2 definitions. There is nothing called low defeat or high defeat. A defeat is always stand as a defeat. Similarly ,there is nothing called “low win” or “high win”. A win is always a win. A win or a defeat cannot be redefined.
Further, you cannot compare a provincial level election with a National level election. You may find an alternative person as a provincial member, but not at the national level.An election to elect the national leader is a big one. No one in this country would like to take a risk at a national level election. You will not find an alternative leader to President Mahinda Rajapaksa forever. MR has brought a sustainable peace to this country which no one has achieved before. People will not forget MR only for this reason. So when there is a presidential election, People show their gratitude one and only man that is MR.
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Situation in the north
North has gone through many difficult stages during the 30 year war, but now it moving in a development line at rapid pace.This is a good sign and it has shown vast development in many sectors. The main point is that the relationship between Army and public.
Five hundred recruits from Jaffna who recently joined the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Forces (SLAVF) have passed out in a smart parade
Another batch of tamil youth have joined the Army. This is another milestone achieved in accordance with LLRC recommendations. Five hundred recruits from Jaffna who recently joined the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Forces (SLAVF) passed out in a smart parade after three month training on September 20 at Sri Lanka Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (SLEME) grounds, Kankesanthurai (KKS). After being recruited, 400 males and 100 females were given basic military training and vocational education on various trades such as carpentry, masonry, electric welding, motor mechanism, farming, beauty culture etc. Training commenced on June 19 at KKS. After their passing out, they will be attached to 7th Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps and different service units located at KKS, and to Thalsevana Holiday Resort.
Those days, Tamil servicemen in the forces had to leave either service or the country or both due to threat of such elements. However, after achieving peace, government opened the avenues for Northern youths to join the military service.
Accordingly, on instructions of Army Commander Lieut Gen Daya Rathnayake, young girls and boys were recruited from the North to the Army. Under the same recruitment program, 100 females and 400 males were recruited from Jaffna with guidance of Jaffna Security Forces Commander Major General Udaya Perera as the first batch.
Jaffna – SF Commander Major Gen Udaya Perera
Deputy Chief of Staff Sri Lanka Army Major General E. M. M. Ambanpola took the salute as Chief Guest of the parade. These young men and women in the North, for some time, were denied of the opportunity to join the military service due to influence of a few extremist elements.
Recruit Dubakaran D. of Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps, Recruit Thanish T. of Sri Lanka Engineers, Recruit Rakipan K. of Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Recruit Jeevarani A. of Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps received awards from the Chief Guest for best overall performance during the course.
And now we can expect that these tamil officers will serve their community in an exemplary manner. Jaffna SF-Commander Major General Udaya Perera has taken extra care in this process. He is keen in creating a good atmosphere between Army and public and he has done that. When contacted the SF-commander Gen Udaya Perera, he said that he firmly believes that people of Jaffna have better understanding the military forces. The people have realized that the military forces are there help the masses to rebuild their lives. Gen Perera created a similar friendly atmosphere when serving as the SF commander in Kilinochchi. This shows the smart caliber and Good Samaritan mind of the service personnel.
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TNA not for division but for unity,
Long way to go,
TNA claims self-rule within a unitary state in Sri Lanka
The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), the main constituent of Sri Lanka’s Tamil political party, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today in an affidavit to the Supreme Court affirmed that neither the ITAK nor the TNA will seek a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.
The new leader of ITAK parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah submitted the affidavit to the apex court when six petitions filed by representatives of Sinhala majority nationalist organizations were taken for hearing.
The affidavit further stated that the TNA and its leaders has consistently expressed publicly on the ITAK’s position pertaining to a federal solution within a united Sri Lanka at several occasions.
A tri-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mohan Peiris and Justices Rohini Marasinghe and Chandra Ekanayake took up the petitions for hearing. The six petitions filed in the apex court alleged that the political objective of the TNA is to form a separate government in Sri Lanka.
The petitioners, Galage Don Punyawardana, Gunadasa Amarasekera, U. Abeykoon, Ven. Bengamuwe Nalaka Thera, U.K. Anura and Ravi Kumar alleged that the main Tamil party campaigned for a separate state in the North and East during the Northern Provincial Council elections held in September 2013.
The petition claimed that the ITAK and TNA distributed election manifestos among voters in the North indicating that they are planning to form a separate state in Sri Lanka.
Petitioner has further cited in the petition that the manifesto is in line with the hidden agenda of the defeated Tamil terrorist organization LTTE.
In its election manifesto, the TNA, once considered as a proxy for the terrorist group LTTE during the war, has called for establishing power sharing arrangements in a unit of a merged Northern and Eastern Provinces based on a Federal structure.
Again TNA is making a mistake here. They have not understood the ground situation. TNA cannot demand anything which exceeds the limitation of constitution or majority people’s will. This is not the requirement of the people. We know that there are rational thinking tamil parliamentarians in ITAK , but those members are overruled by the members biased to LTTE concepts. This has to be stopped. The other members also should think differently to see how best they can serve the people. We see some changes of the minds of TNA, but still it is not enough. The civil society members can play a major role in this process to change the minds of the people.
Written By : J.Yogaraj – Senior Journalist
Ceylon Report - English 
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