President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has personally intervened to initiate a significant operation aimed at establishing power in local government bodies where no single party secured a majority in the recent elections.
Plans are reportedly underway to form administrations in councils where opposition groups hold a majority. While no discussions have been held with the main opposition parties, it is reported that government local leaders are engaging in discussions with elected councilors.
Independent groups have been given the opportunity to meet with the President and to hold discussions with senior members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) at their Pelawatta headquarters. The National People’s Power (NPP) government is reportedly determined to secure control of the Colombo Municipal Council at any cost.
NPP leaders view the failure to gain control of the capital city’s administration as a significant political embarrassment, despite securing the presidency and a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The NPP secured approximately 48 seats in the Colombo Municipal Council with 36.92% of the vote.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) secured 29 seats, the United National Party (UNP) 13, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) 5, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) 4, the United Peace Alliance 2, Sarvajana Bala 2, and other parties 1 each. The remaining 9 seats are distributed among five independent groups.
The President has reportedly commenced discussions not with the aforementioned political parties but with these independent groups. A former governor is also reportedly involved in mediating discussions with ‘independent’ members in support of the government.
Secret behind-the-scenes discussions are also reportedly taking place with the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Tamil Progressive Alliance led by Mano Ganeshan.
