The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has won the Uva Provincial Council elections securing the highest number of seats in the two districts during yesterday’s elections, according the results released so far.

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Accordingly, the UPFA had secured 19 seats including two bonus seats in the Provincial Council while the UNP secured 13 seats and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) won two seats.

Although the UPFA won the entire province, the ruling party showed a major setback in some areas mainly in the Badulla District as it was unable to win the Badulla, Welimada and the Hali-Ela electorates.

In the Badulla District, the UPFA won with a majority of 11,348 votes. It obtained 209,056 votes (47.37%) and secured nine seats, while the UNP which obtained 197,708 votes (44.79%), secured eight seats.

“This will definitely affect for the forthcoming Presidential election and this result clearly shows the reduction of the popularity among the Uva Province voters,” an election observer told Daily Mirror Online.

In 2009 the Provincial Council Elections, the ruling UPFA secured 25 out of 34 seats in the Provincial Council with a 72%.

UPFA Gets Narrow Lead over UNP in Badulla District

The ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) retained the Badulla District in the Uva Provincial Council Election but failed to obtain a clear majority in terms of members elected. The UPFA secured 9 seats while the United National Party (UNP) got 8 and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna a solitary seat .

The UPFA obtained 209,056 votes (47.37%) and secured 9 seats while the UNP which obtained 197,708 votes (44.79%) and secured 8 seats.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has obtained 20,625 votes (4.79%) and secured one seat.

The Democratic Unity Alliance (coalition of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and All Ceylon People’s Congress (ACPC)), obtained 5,045 votes (1.14%) in the Badulla District without any seats.

The National Freedom Front (NFF) of Minister Wimal Weerawansa obtained 4,835 votes and Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party (DP) obtained 3202 votes and unable to obtain any seats in the district.

In terms of voting trends, the UPFA’s share has come down from 58.25% at the last General Election (2010) to 47.37%. The UNP has gained considerably, getting 44.79% as opposed to 32.28% in 2010.

The UPFA’s vote base erosion would look worse if the comparison was with the 2009 Provincial Council result where it obtained 67.79% of the total valid votes polled. That election, however, was held in the aftermath of defeating the LTTE and ridding the country of the terrorist menace.

UPFA Wins in Moneragala District with Reduced Voter Base

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) secured 58.34% of the vote to win the Monaragala District. The UPFA thereby returned 8 members to the Uva Provincial Council from the province while the United National Party (UNP) got 5 seats and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) a solitary seat.

The United National Party obtained 77,065 votes (31.92%) with 5 seats in the district.

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna obtained 15,955 votes with only one seat.

Independent Group 5 has received 3,612 votes and Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party (DP) received the fourth place with 2482 votes, but both parties failed to secure any seats.

The UPFA got 75.84% of the vote at the General Election in 2010 and as such has seen a sizable erosion of its vote base. The UNP, which got only 18% of the vote in 2010 from Monaragala, has gained by a considerable margin, having got 31.92% of the overall vote.

(COMPILED FROM NEWS REPORTS IN COLOMBO)