The local government election which concluded yesterday was peaceful and calm with no major incidents being reported. There were a few incidents that were reported, but on the whole voting went on in a peaceful manner, said CaFFE Executive Director Keerthi Tannakoon.
Speaking to the Daily News he said however that the people had given the government a clear sign to step down. “What we have seen in this election is a very unique situation. The flower bud party very clearly won the election. No government in power has ever lost so badly. This clearly indicates that during the past two-and-a-half years this government has failed miserably. However, the issue here is that the UNP is going to continue until 2020, despite this defeat. Ranil Wickremesinghe is a leader who has lost for the thirtieth time and this is not a good sign for the country.”
Tennakoon noted that there are around 100 persons around the Prime Minister who will support him, but on the other hand there are around 2,000 people who will not. “How is he going to carry on the government with all these people against him? The main reason for the UNP’s defeat is nothing but the arrogance of its leader. During the Treasury Bond issue, the government was unconcerned about the country and the people clearly defeated them because of this,” he said.
He also noted that another reason for the government’s defeat is the high cost of living. “The people are suffering and with all this fraud and huge sums of money being wasted by the government, people are disgusted. Moreover, the minority has also distanced themselves from the government. Therefore, the people have given the government a clear sign to step down. If a government cannot deliver on its promises, the people distance themselves from the government and this is what has happened to this government. Just giving people empty promises will not work and the people have clearly shown this to the government. They no longer believe mere words, the people demand action and this is where the government has failed and they had to pay the price for it,” he added.
According to Tennakoon, the Prime Minister is unpredictable and no one knows what he will do next. However, he warned that if the government fails to respect the people’s verdict, there will definitely be a mass uprising against the government from next week.