Sri Lankan parties scramble to form coalitions to run local councils

Colombo, May 12 (PTI) A week after the May 6 election, Sri Lankan parties are trying to stitch together coalitions to run the local councils.
     Out of the 338 local councils which went to polls, the ruling National People’s Power (NPP), came first in 265. However, in 120 councils, the opposition parties together have more members elected than from the ruling party.
     It is for these 120 councils, that the opposition parties are trying to come together to form council administrations.
     The Colombo Municipal Council, the most prestigious among them, is the one for which the parties are putting the most efforts.
     The NPP, which suffered a loss of over two million votes country-wide compared to the parliamentary election held in November last year, is keen to run the Colombo council.
     However, they could win only 48 of the 117 seats leaving the combined opposition parties with 69 seats.
     The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) said they were talking to members elected from opposition parties to elect the group’s own Colombo mayor.
     The ruling NPP, however, claimed no other party has the right to form the administration since they are the majority party.
     Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala said “we are talking to members as individuals so they can join us to set up a clean administration”.
     “The NPP can’t buy over members, it is against what they always said,” Mujibar Rahman, parliamentarian from the SJB, said.
     The local council election was the first electoral test for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake after his presidential election win in September and the parliamentary election held in November.
     The result was a setback for the NPP which claimed that the public had opted for them to correct the mistakes of traditional parties over a period of 76 years.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)