SB regrets UNP boycott of Batticaloa polls

by Norman Palihawadena

UNP National Organiser S. B. Dissanayake yesterday said he regretted that his party had boycotted the Batticaloa local government election held last Monday.
Dissanayake, who returned to the country on Tuesday night, after month’s stay abroad, said "We would have definitely won the Batticaloa Municipality and a few other Pradeshya Sabhas had we contested."
He said that at the last presidential elections the UNP had obtained 120,000 votes from the Batticaloa District and was of the opinion that that could have easily been doubled had the UNP contested Monday’s polls, as the Government had become very unpopular and the people would have preferred the UNP to any other party.
The large number of people who abstained from voting was an indication that they did not have a choice and thus preferred to stay away, he said.
Dissanayake said had the UNP contested over 70 per cent would have voted and the party could have easily emerged victorious. "We made a very a bad mistake in not contesting the elections thus depriving our supporters of a chance to vote," he said.
Commencing March 16 the UNP would hold prayer meetings in temples to inform the people of the Government’s inefficiency and its inability to control the soaring cost of living. These prayer meetings would be conducted in all parts of the country, he said.