Votes increased by 5% - UNP

18 March 2011 11:48 am

The UNP today said that it had suffered a major setback at yesterday’s Local Government polls, but had managed to increase its votes by 5 percent compared to last year’s general election.

Addressing the media in Colombo, party’s General Secretary Tissa Attanayake recalled that the party obtained 34 percent of the votes at this election compared to 29 percent at the 2010 general election.

Mr. Attanayake said the party had lost several local bodies by slim majorities by less than 2000 votes. He said this have been achieved in a challenging situation where the ruling party was engaged in malpractices throughout the campaign. “However we will not deny the set back by taking these points as excuses, “he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Attanayake made an open invitation to other opposition parties to come together as a joint opposition whenever there is a need for such an alliance. (Yohan Perera)