{"id":85877,"date":"2025-05-05T18:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=85877"},"modified":"2025-05-06T01:12:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T05:12:20","slug":"85877","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=85877","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Local Govt Elections : Ruling NPP is looking to gain control of local bodies to deliver on pledges at the local level; while opposition parties are trying to regain lost political capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over 17 million Sri Lankan voters will on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) get to vote in the local government elections \u2014 the island nation\u2019s third election in seven months \u2014 to elect representatives to as many as 336 local bodies.<\/p>\n

The voters will choose members and chairs of Municipal Councils, Urban Councils, and Pradeshiya (rural) Sabhas in the first electoral contest after a popular wave propelled President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People\u2019s Power (NPP) coalition to power last year. <\/p>\n

With successive wins in Sri Lanka\u2019s crucial presidential and parliamentary polls in 2024, the leftist NPP consolidated power, securing a two-thirds majority in the legislature. The local government elections assume significance also because the former Ranil Wickremesinghe administration postponed holding them in 2023, citing \u201clack of funds\u201d for polls owing to the economic crisis.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks, the ruling NPP has been campaigning hard, with President Dissanayake addressing public rallies across the country, including in the Tamil-majority Jaffna district where the NPP outdid traditional Tamil nationalist parties in the general elections.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The campaign speeches of NPP leaders and contestants have sought to highlight the government\u2019s efforts through the past seven months, mainly towards weeding out corruption, amid criticism from sections over poll-pledges that are yet to be implemented.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties, which fared poorly in the national elections, are trying to woo voters, by promising to deliver at the local level, to regain lost political capital.<\/p>\n

Twenty-one-year-old voter K. Munasinghe, who works at a small trinket store in Colombo\u2019s neighbouring Gampaha district, says she \u201cdefinitely\u201d sees a change in the country after the NPP came to power. <\/p>\n

Countering government critics, she says: \u201cThere is some relief from the crippling cost of living. After other parties gobbled up our country\u2019s wealth for decades, the new government cannot overturn everything immediately. They need time and I am hopeful,\u201d she says.
\nAccording to Sri Lanka\u2019s latest Census of Population and Housing [2024], Gampaha is the most populous district with about 2.4 million people, followed by capital Colombo which has 2.3 million people. <\/p>\n

Days ahead of the election, hundreds of posters adorn the walls of the town, except, they are not of politicians. \u201cMathematics\u201d, \u201cchemistry\u201d, \u201cgeography\u201d, they scream, with studio portraits of local teachers, advertising the district\u2019s thriving private tuition culture.
\nOnce a stronghold of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party \u2014 prominent politicians including former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, former Minister Basil Rajapaksa were elected to parliament from this district \u2014 Gampaha gave its highest preference of votes to current Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath in the November 2024 parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted a change, and the NPP has just come to power. Big things are yet to happen, we must wait and see. But if you ask me, most benefits for people come through the local bodies and councils. That\u2019s why what happens this time is important,\u201d says D.M. Damayanthi, who works at a newspaper sales centre.
\nVoters observed that in the past, politicians in local bodies built strong patronage networks. Familiarity with and proximity to candidates often drove voter decisions. <\/p>\n

While some Sri Lankan analysts say this presents a challenge to the NPP, a relatively new entity, party organisers are confident of retaining their voters. <\/p>\n

In addition to promising good civic infrastructure, public spaces, and prompt services at government institutions, the campaign continues to pitch \u201cbrand AKD\u201d [as President Dissanayake is popularly known] to the public. \u201cAt the heart of brand AKD is anti-corruption.<\/p>\n

All the candidates fielded by our party are non-corrupt, clean individuals. So, there is consistency between our messaging and politics at the national as well as local level,\u201d says Eric Ediriwickrama, NPP\u2019s team leader for the Municipal Council in Gampaha.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some voters are visibly fatigued by elections. \u201cIf it\u2019s about politics, I do not wish to speak,\u201d snaps E.G. Margarat. \u201cWhen something as basic as food and education are out of reach for so many of us, I have no interest in politicians or elections,\u201d she says, turning the spotlight on the enduring impact of Sri Lanka\u2019s economic crisis affecting scores of families like hers. \u201cWe are surviving on a little rice and just one vegetable every day. Pumpkin today, cucumber yesterday, brinjal tomorrow. We are unable to afford an egg or a piece of fish these days. Is this any way to live?\u201d asks the 72-year-old homemaker. \u201cPeople are becoming physically weaker because we simply can\u2019t afford nutrition anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Over 17 million Sri Lankan voters will on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) get to vote in the local government elections \u2014 the island nation\u2019s third election in seven months \u2014 to elect representatives to as many as 336 local bodies. The voters will choose members and chairs of Municipal Councils, Urban Councils, …<\/p>\n

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