Economic hardship dampens polls interest in Puttalam
In the Puttalam district, paddy crops have failed for five seasons due to insufficient rains over the past two years. It is in this backdrop of intense economic hardship for most of the district’s residents that political parties are campaigning here for the forthcoming Local Government (LG) elections.
While the new electoral system has made for one of the most peaceful campaign periods in living memory, the interest among the district’s public for the election itself has been low key.
According to the 2018 Electoral Register, there are 587,683 eligible voters in the district. Under the new electoral system, political parties here are fighting for control of 12 LG bodies, with 302 members to be elected.
Among those contesting for LG bodies in the district are several former ministers and deputy ministers, former MPs, a Buddhist Monk and an independent group representing the Kalpitiya Fisheries Association.
The UNP has two state ministers and three MPs representing the district, and they have been hard at work on the campaign trail, in the midst of the fallout from the Treasury Bond scandal.
All three of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MPs from the Puttalam district, namely Priyankara Jayaratne, Sanath Nishantha Perera and Arundika Fernando have switched their allegiances to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and are supporting the SLPP led by the former president, which is contesting under the lotus bud symbol.
Meanwhile, former provincial council member Ananda Sarath Kumara, who was found guilty of forcing a teacher to kneel, has been appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena as the SLFP’s organizer for Anamaduwa. The SLFP held a major campaign rally drawing large crowds, in Anamaduwa on Tuesday (23), under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena.
The SLPP too had earlier held its rally in Anamaduwa on Jan.8, under the patronage of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. This rally also drew a crowd that was so large that the former president faulted the organisers for not using drones to record its size.
In the adjoining Kurunegala district also, the main parties are in a keen tussle for the Kurunegala Municipal Council and the Kuliyapitiya Urban council. Elections are also being held for 19 Pradeshiya Sabhas in the district.