(Text of an Editorial Appearing in “The Island” of September 22nd 2014 Under the heading”A thundering slap”)

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The people of Uva have given the ruling UPFA a thundering slap plus a reduced majority to rule their province. The government has, in spite of all its polls law violations, election bribes and abuse of state resources, managed to secure only 19 seats in the 34-member provincial council where it earlier had as many as 25.

That the government was struggling in Uva became evident when it, all of a sudden, reduced fuel and power prices with a few days to go for the polls. In the Badulla District the UPFA has failed to secure a majority of seats. It could obtain only nine seats (and 47.37% of votes) as opposed to the UNP’s eight seats (44.79%) and the JVP’s one seat (4.67%).

In the Badulla District, the UNP bagged three out of nine electorates—Badulla (54.00%), Hali Ela (50.1%) and Welimada (44.85%). It lost Uva-Paranagama and Bandarawela by only 197 and 280 votes respectively. If there had been a level playing field perhaps it would have won those two electorates as well. However, it failed to win a single constituency in the Moneragala District.

Overall, the UNP has performed well. But, let there be no room for complacency. It has a long way to go before mobilising the masses to dislodge the incumbent dispensation. It has only shown signs of recovery.

The government certainly has reason to worry when the results of Saturday’s election are compared with those of the 2009 PC polls. It may be argued that the previous election was held within a few months of the country’s victory over terrorism and, therefore, popular support for the government cannot be expected to be at the same level after a lapse of five years. But, the fact remains that the government’s winning streak is coming to an end.

The UPFA had nine seats from the Moneragala District in the previous council—the UNP only two and the JVP none. It polled a staggering 81.32% of votes in that district in 2009 but that percentage has plummeted to 58.34. This time around, the government has lost one of its seats in the council and failed to win any of the three extra seats Moneragala was given at the expense of Badulla owing to the recent redistribution of seats in the Uva Province. The UNP has won three more seats and the JVP one in the Moneragala District.

At the 2009 PC polls, in the Badulla District, the UPFA polled 67.79% of votes and secured 14 seats—the UNP 25.81% and five seats, the Up-country People’s Front 2.41% and one seat and the JVP 2.36% and one seat. If the Badulla District had retained the same number of seats (21) instead of 18, the Uva Province results would perhaps have been different.

The UNP and the JVP have begun to eat into the SLFP’s rural vote bank. This is a worrisome proportion for the government which lacks support in cities in spite of its mega urban yuppification projects and is dependent on the rural and semi-urban voters to win elections.

Interestingly, Gen. Sarath Fonseka’s Democratic Party, which claimed to have become the third force in southern politics following the previous PC polls where it fared better than the JVP has failed to secure a single seat in Uva. Some consolation for the JVP!

The challenge before the government now is to prevent its support base from eroding any further in view of the national level elections to be held next. It was argued in some quarters prior to Saturday’s election that the government was sending a trial balloon and it would not go for a snap presidential or general election if it failed to perform well in that electoral contest. But, logically, the only option it is apparently left with is to go for an early presidential election as it did in 2010 in a bid to trump the Opposition before the situation takes a turn for the worse.

Now that the people of Uva have given it a slap but stopped short of booting it out, the UPFA will have to mend its ways and address the burning issues people are faced with if it is to avert an electoral disaster in the future. Besides, it will have to shore up its crumbling image by cutting down on rampant waste of public funds, reining in violent elements within its ranks, taking steps to fight corruption, respecting the rule of law and, most of all heeding public complaints and their pleas for relief.

All it takes to bring down a strong government is the arrogance of power.

Courtesy:The Island