ACMC’s new local MPs sworn in

Saturday, 24 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

'The All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) has said its strong victory in the recently-concluded Local Government polls is a result of formulating party activities by accurately understanding the pulse of its voters.

“We won because we voters understood our party is ready to act,” said ACMC Leader and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on 22 March, addressing the ceremony where ACMC’s 169 newly-elected Local Government MPs were lined up for oath taking.

At the recent LG election, ACMC’s strategy formulated by Bathiudeen of creating a new political coalition [the United Peace Alliance (UPA), and placing M.T. Hassan Ali as its Chairperson] to enter Ampara District in the critical Eastern Province has paid off well with new UPA clinching 31 seats in its maiden entry to the district taking more than 40,000 votes. Previously ACMC had only one Local Government seat in the Ampara District.

Minister Bathiudeen led the formation of United People’s Alliance (UPA) on 10 December 2017 as the Leader of ACMC. ACMC has also bagged three Local Government bodies in Mannar District using 21 seats it won – Museli PS, Mantai West PS and Mannar PS. ACMC contested with UNP in nine Districts–Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Colombo, Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Batticaloa. It faced the polls on its own in five Districts – Trincomalee, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy and Kurunegala.

“I thank our voters in all 15 districts for placing their trust in ACMC and helping us to win,” said Minister Bathiudeen and added: “Our strategy of forming the new UPA has worked and our seats in Eastern Province increased in a big way. We won because we voters understood our party is ready to act.”

ACMC contested in Kurunegala, Kandy and Kalutara Districts for the first time and bagged 15 seats right away (Kandy eight, Kurunegala five, Kalutara two). ACMC contested alone in these three Districts – in its first-ever entry.