The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Marxist nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) are to contest the forthcoming local government elections separately, despite the latter having actively supported the former’s candidate at the residential polls.
The JVP said although it would contest the forthcoming local government elections separately, it was not an indication that the ultra-nationalists are having a misunderstanding with the government, The Island newspaper reported.
The JVP had been in alliance with the SLFP in the UPFA at the last parliamentary elections (December 2001 and April 2004). Though the two parties fell out subsequently, the JVP also supported the SLFP’s candidate, Mahinda Rajapakse at the last Presidential polls.
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said their understanding with President Mahinda Rajapakse would remain the same. JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe said that national agreement has nothing to do with the local government polls.
Analysts suggest that the JVPs decision to stand alone was driven by a desire to build up its grass-roots support base, for which it would have to compete against the SLFP.
The JVP currently controls only one Pradeshiya Sabha in Tissamaharamaya, but at the forthcoming polls, the party is fielding candidates in all local authorities except those in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mannar, and is expected to gain control of a number of bodies.
Tissamaharamaya Pradeshiya Sabha is considered by many to be a radical experiment in the party’s commitment to its local constituencies. “It has been extremely successful for local rate-payers,” says one analyst.
The JVP also said that the party would not take any legal action against the SLFP on its decision to contest the local government election under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition banner.
“We wrote to the SLFP General Secretary asking the party not to contest the election under UPFA as it would be a violation of the MOU which the two parties signed last year but they informed that they decided to contest under UPFA as they thought the two parties would work together,” JVP General Secretary Tilwin Silva told a press conference
However Mr. Silva also reiterated that the party did not intend to take any legal action against SLFP as the JVP still supported President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Explaining the stand taken by the party to contest alone he said that the JVP did not want to make the local government elections a major political issue.
Interestingly, SLFP leader and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has also told her party members to avoid clashing with JVP members, The Island newspaper reported.
“About 90 percent of JVPers are our people and we should hold the SLFP campaign very peacefully,” The Island quoted Kumaratunga, who has often heaped vitriol on the JVP, in between bouts of political alliance with it, as telling the SLFP nominees in the Gamapaha district.
The JVP said although it would contest the forthcoming local government elections separately, it was not an indication that the ultra-nationalists are having a misunderstanding with the government, The Island newspaper reported.
The JVP had been in alliance with the SLFP in the UPFA at the last parliamentary elections (December 2001 and April 2004). Though the two parties fell out subsequently, the JVP also supported the SLFP’s candidate, Mahinda Rajapakse at the last Presidential polls.
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said their understanding with President Mahinda Rajapakse would remain the same. JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe said that national agreement has nothing to do with the local government polls.
Analysts suggest that the JVPs decision to stand alone was driven by a desire to build up its grass-roots support base, for which it would have to compete against the SLFP.
The JVP currently controls only one Pradeshiya Sabha in Tissamaharamaya, but at the forthcoming polls, the party is fielding candidates in all local authorities except those in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mannar, and is expected to gain control of a number of bodies.
Tissamaharamaya Pradeshiya Sabha is considered by many to be a radical experiment in the party’s commitment to its local constituencies. “It has been extremely successful for local rate-payers,” says one analyst.
The JVP also said that the party would not take any legal action against the SLFP on its decision to contest the local government election under the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition banner.
“We wrote to the SLFP General Secretary asking the party not to contest the election under UPFA as it would be a violation of the MOU which the two parties signed last year but they informed that they decided to contest under UPFA as they thought the two parties would work together,” JVP General Secretary Tilwin Silva told a press conference
However Mr. Silva also reiterated that the party did not intend to take any legal action against SLFP as the JVP still supported President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Explaining the stand taken by the party to contest alone he said that the JVP did not want to make the local government elections a major political issue.
Interestingly, SLFP leader and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga has also told her party members to avoid clashing with JVP members, The Island newspaper reported.
“About 90 percent of JVPers are our people and we should hold the SLFP campaign very peacefully,” The Island quoted Kumaratunga, who has often heaped vitriol on the JVP, in between bouts of political alliance with it, as telling the SLFP nominees in the Gamapaha district.
