Sri Lankan Provincial and Municipal Council Elections Offer

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000791


STATE FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL CE
SUBJECT: Sri Lankan Provincial and Municipal Council Elections Offer
Few Surprises

Ref: A) Colombo 780 B) Colombo 781


1. (SBU) On August 8, elections were held for the Uva provincial
council, the municipal councils in Jaffna, and the urban council in
Vavuniya, where many IDPs are currently located. President
Rajpaksa's ruling United Party Freedom Alliance (UPFA) scored a
significant victory in the Sinhala dominated Uva Provincial Council
with 72.39 percent of the votes and in the Jaffna Municipal Council
elections with 50.67 percent of the votes. Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) emerged as the single largest party winner with 34.81 percent
of the votes in the Vavuniya Urban Council (VUC). Voter turnout in
Uva Province was 72 percent. In Jaffna, where there were some
limited reports of direct intimidation, the turnout was only about
20 percent. In Vavuniya, the turnout was 50 percent. Seat
breakdown is as follows:

Uva Provincial Council: UPFA - 25 seats, United National Party
(UNP) - 7 seats, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)- 1 seat, Up-country
People's Front (Tamil) - 1 seat.

Jaffna Municipal Council: UPFA - 13 seats, TNA - 8 seats, Tamil
United Liberation Front (TULF) - 1 seat, Independents - 1 seat, UNP
- 0 seats.

Vavuniya Urban Council: TNA - 5 seats, Democratic People's
Liberation Front (DPLF) - 3 seats, UPFA - 2 seats, Sri Lanka Muslim
Congress (SLMC) - 1 seat.


2. (SBU) COMMENT: In the first post-war elections in Sri Lanka after
the defeat of the LTTE, the results in Jaffna municipality and the
Uva Province were significant wins for the ruling UPFA.
Pro-government media interpreted these election results as a
demonstration of the population's support for the government's
actions in the war and post-war development plans. The ruling
UPFA's wins in Jaffna and Uva were not surprising given the
government's efforts to boost turnout and restrict the activities of
opposition parties. The TNA's good showing in Vavuniya probably
reflects the Tamil population's frustrations over the IDP camps,
higher voter turnout (as compared to Jaffna where voters were less
upset with the government),and the UPFA's lack of a Tamil ally to
help sway voters as Douglas Devananda of the Eelam People's
Democratic Party did in Jaffna. The low turnout in Jaffna is partly
attributable to the fact that of the approximately 100,000 eligible
voters, 40,000 voter cards were returned to the post office as
undeliverable, reflecting in part the large number of residents who
have moved overseas in recent years, as well as deaths. The
government's willingness to allow a Tamil opposition party victory
in Vavuniya can be interpreted as a positive sign. However, the
lack of broad Tamil support previews the challenges the government
will face in the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

MOORE