report in economynext, Jan 10, 2023 at 3:41 pm
ECONOMYNEXT – The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the formerly rival centre-right United National Party (UNP), the party headed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, will join forces to contest the local government elections that may or may not take place in March this year.
UNP general secretary Palitha Range Bandara told reporters following a discussion between the president and SLPP representatives Monday January 10 that the two parties will contest the election together under the SLPP’s Pohottuwa (lotus bud) symbol for some of the local bodies, the UNP’s elephant symbol for some and a common symbol for the others.
Consensus has already been reached to contest the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC), traditionally a UNP stronghold, the Kandy Municipal Council and the Puttalam Urban Council under the elephant symbol, the former parliamentarian said.
District leaders of both parties had taken part in Monday’s discussion, and agreement had reached for five districts – Kandy, Kurunegala, Puttalam, Kalutara and Ratnapura – on which symbol to contest for which local authority and how to divide up nominations. Discussions for other districts will continue in due course, said Bandara.
The two parties have yet to work out a common symbol which will be decided later upon further discussion, he added.
Asked if the local government election will go ahead as announced, Bandara said the chairman of the election commission has been summoned for a discussion and he will work accordingly.
Despite the election commission announcing January 18 to 21 as dates for accepting nominations for the local polls, there is a cloud of uncertainty over the widely anticipated election. Opposition parties continue to accuse the government of resorting to various underhand tactics to delay the election while the election commission itself is reportedly divided on whether it should go ahead with the polls.
A number of government ministers have said the cash-strapped country cannot afford to hold elections at present, while some analysts warn that an election at this juncture could derail or at least slow down Sri Lanka’s recovery process. President Wickremesinghe, though he has said he will not participate in the UNP’s election campaign, is also reportedly decidedly not in favour of an election at present, choosing instead to prioritise his mandate to bring Sri Lanka out of its worst currency crisis in decades.
https://economynext.com/sri-lankas-ruling-slpp-presidents-unp-team-up-for-local-govt-elections-108796/
