Pillaiyan to be appointed Chief Minister

(Lanka-e-News, ) The election result of the Batticaloa district has prompted the government to appoint Pillaiyan as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council.

The President stated in advance that the person who attains highest number of preferential votes would be appointed as the Chief Minister.

Pillaiyan achieved the highest number of preferential votes and earned the highest number of votes for the government from Batticaloa district. He won all three electorates in the district and turning the 2005 Presidential result upside down, Pillaiyan-led United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) team won the district with a majority of 46,739 votes. At the Presidential election President Rajapakse acquired mere 28,000 votes while Ranil Wickramasinghe gained more than 100,000 votes.

Pillaiyan said in public that he would be the Chief Minister if UPFA won the election. The day before the election was held, Pillaiyan said to an English newspaper hundreds more will rise to replace him if Pillaiyan was cheated.