The UNP will gain control of over 70 percent of the Local Councils at the forthcoming Local Government elections. This is a foregone conclusion because the party's objective is to extend its power to the rural sector, said Rural Economy Minister P. Harrison.
He was speaking to the media after attending the Nochchiyagama Regional Co-ordinating Committee meeting in Anuradhapura, recently.
Harrison said even though there were several futile attempts made to unite the Joint Opposition and the SLFP, no one would be able to undermine the common understanding between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. There were signs that the Yahapalana Government would even continue beyond 2020, he said.
Referring to a statement allegedly made by S. M. Ranjith Samarakoon to the effort that the Joint Opposition would contest the forthcoming election in collaboration with several sections including former LTTE members, he said, this was nothing new because people such as Karuna Amman and Pilleyan had always been their bosom friends.
He said the Joint Opposition followed a policy of duplicity. While inflaming communal passions on one side, they worked in league with extremist forces on the other.
He also emphasized that there was no misunderstanding between the President and the Prime Minister as rumoured by certain parties.
When asked whether the government planned to control protest demonstrations with an iron fist, Harrison said there was no such thing as the government had given full freedom for people to express their views.
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