UPFA says surveys predict overwhelming victory

By Chamodi Gunawardana

The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) yesterday claimed that recent public surveys had predicted that the UPFA would obtain between 114-118 seats at the upcoming General Election.

Speaking about the surveys, UPFA Media Committee Chairman Dilan Perera noted that the UPFA was already confident about winning the forthcoming General Election.

“A group of professionals, university lectures and lawyers have conducted three different surveys about the victory and they submitted three separate reports on them. Those reports have clearly mentioned that the UPFA would obtain between 114-118 seats at the upcoming election,” Perera stated.

Perera went on to accuse the United National Party (UNP) Government of producing defamatory posters and newspaper articles about former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“The UNP Government has published a number of the Board of Investment’s full page advertisements on some popular newspapers and they have spent around Rs. 1,500,000 for them. However, the UNP has forcibly published false news stories along with those advertisements,” Perera claimed.

UPFA Matara District Group Leader Dullas Alahapperuma added that the recent surveys had projected that the UPFA would comfortably secure 12 of the 24 districts.

“We are confident about winning in 12 districts and we will reveal those districts in detail. We presume that the UNP will win in only four districts. Another four districts will be won by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) while the two districts remaining will be up for grabs,” Alahapperuma explained.

“The UNP’s Ministers have paid around Rs. 25 billion from Samurdhi accounts to their election supporters,” Alahapperuma alleged.

UPFA National List candidate and former MP Jeevan Kumaratunga claimed that those who were talking about violence against women were the same people who released rapists from jail.

“Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is taking about women’s rights and domestic violence. We would like to remind him about Gonawala Sunil, the person who was released from jail on Wickremesinghe’s instructions. Sunil was proven as a rapist. However, Wickremesinghe took him from jail and offered him a Justice of the Peace position,” Kumaratunga charged.

UPFA Colombo District Candidate Gamini Lokuge went on to say that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe did not contribute to the war victory as the Opposition Leader.

“When former President Rajapaksa began the war mission he asked the Opposition to vote for the annual budget. Those days I was in the UNP. We all wanted to vote for the budget to continue the war mission. However, Wickremesinghe tried to stop us,” Lokuge stated.

He also said: “Wickremesinghe wanted to use that crucial situation to defeat the Government. He told us that it was the best opportunity which the Opposition had. Nevertheless, I voted for the budget and left the UNP forever.”