UNP Deputy General Secretary and Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam called on the masses to further strengthen the United National Party (UNP) at the upcoming local government elections to ensure rapid development of the country.
“The SLFP-led UPFA and those in the Joint Opposition (JO) have ruled the country for the past 20 years.
The UNP has only completed only two and half years in office. Therefore, we should be given at least five years to govern the country and provide substantial results to the voters,” the Minister told the Sunday Observer yesterday. Minister Kariyawasam said that the Joint Opposition (JO) is politically dead right now and cannot be resurrected.
“A group which was defeated twice would not win an election. A Government in power has never been toppled at LG elections and the Opposition has never won an LG election,” he said. When asked whether the UNP will use this election as a test for the Provincial Council election which will follow almost immediately after the LG election, the Minister said, “We don’t want to do so. After we secure a comfortable victory at the LG polls, we would definitely win the Provincial Council election as well.”