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| Karu Jayasuriya on campaign trail |
PC polls results confirm large number do not approve Govt
UNP MP Karu Jayasuriya yesterday said that the results of the elections for three Provincial Councils last week confirm that a large number of people do not approve the Government and the path it has taken with many burning issues unresolved.
Following is the full text of the statement issued by Jayasuriya:
The Provincial Council election which was thrust on the people has been concluded. The Government says that the public opinion is in favour of the Government. Do the election results reflect the real public opinion?
At the time of the declaration of the election, five elements of our society which are considered as a hereditary right of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the major political party of the alliance, were up in arms against the alliance.
The University system was paralysed. Trade union action of the University academic staff had gone beyond the control of the Government. Trade union action was supported by the non-academic staff and the University students. On many occasions they were subjected to assault by the Police riot squads, using batons, water cannons and tear gas. Whilst the higher education was in such a state the Government was having difficulty in conducting the scholarship examination and resolving Z score issues.
Uninterrupted electricity supply, which was established by the United National Front Government which came into power in 2001, has been converted to a power cut of three hours and 20 minutes. When the Provincial Council election was approaching, the economy of the country had collapsed. There were issues on sub standard petrol and diesel; transactions violating tender procedures and resignation of the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He had stated that he is resigning the post due to the pressure applied on him and interference by those who are in the higher echelons of power, whilst he was pursuing the investigations against a mafia which controls the Stock Exchange.
He further stated, he was unable to carry out his duties whilst safeguarding his self esteem. Similarly there were interferences by parties connected to the Government regarding law and judiciary, the civil society was highly displeased regarding this situation. This had an adverse effect on the Government and it paved way for protests by the masses.
The United National Party, which is considered as the single major political party in this country, had enough political weapons supplied by the Government itself, to organise people against the Government during the Provincial Council Elections. Whatever the reason, it is unfortunate that we were unable to use these politically important weapons to our advantage during the elections.
Whenever I participated at the propaganda rallies at the request of the individual candidates to provide support to them in their election campaign, I realised the desire of the party supporters to teach a lesson to the Government. It is not possible to change the Government through a Provincial Council election, but we could have used it as a first step towards the establishment of a UNP rule. It is obvious from the election results that on this occasion too, party loyalists did not go the polling station to vote. I wish to state in good faith that we all should draw our attention to this fact. At least in this instance we must realise the reality.
First of all we have to unite the party and cultivate confidence in the minds of our party loyalists that the United National Party is a winning political party. Compared to other national level political parties, our party has so many youthful members and seniors with a wealth of experience. Also, we have a chain of branches spread all over the country from the national level to the grass root level. What we should do is activate the energy of our youthful members utilising the experience of the senior members rather than suppressing them by adopting the theory of tooth for tooth and eye for eye; and turn our party into a winning political party.
In order to achieve this we have to forgive and forget the differences of opinion and dissent and generate a feeling of trust about the party, in the minds of the party loyalists by giving them recognition and warmth in return.
At this crucial moment we must decide whether we should allow our party to go into political ruin and become stone pillars amongst the ruins or to become a vibrant political party.
There is a message for the Government. The Government should realise that a large number of voters did not go to the polling station although the Government won the elections. They must realise that there are a large number of citizens who do not approve the path taken by the Government.
Hence instead of bowing down to the peoples will, when the Government engages in a sordid attempt to get power in the Eastern Province by utilising the same method of threats and rewards which they adopted to pass the 18th Amendment, to the members of the Council, one day it will boomerang on the Government.
At this challenging moment, I kindly invite all members of our party, to unite, get together and march forward for the country, future generations and our dear party loyalists. I extend my sincere thanks to all those who cast their vote to the United National Party.
Finally I would like to state that I will continue to dedicate myself until we build a victorious United
FT
