The Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) faces a mayoral showdown today after weeks of political horse-trading, tense negotiations and allegations of bribery.Both the JVP-led NPP and the SJB-led opposition group, vying for the coveted CMC mayoral post, expressed confidence of winning today’s contest.
The election of the new Mayor and the Deputy Mayor will take place as the first order of business, when the CMC meets today. The winning party needs at least 59 seats of the 117-member council to secure the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The NPP obtained 48 seats at the 6 May Local Government elections whereas the SJB managed to secure only 29.
At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, at the JVP Palewatte office on Saturday, the ruling party declared that it would form the administration at the CMC. Vraie Cally Balthazaar, who contested the LG poll as the NPP’s mayoral candidate, assured the gathering that the ruling party would take over the CMC.
The UNP came third at the CMC with 13 seats, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) gained five seats.Political sources said that UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed that the SJB and UNP at least contest together for the CMC but Sajith Premadasa rejected that move.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress received four seats, Independent Group No. 03 obtained three seats, the Sarvajana Balaya received two seats, and the United Peace Alliance also secured two seats.
Independent Groups No. 04 and 05 received two seats each.
The United Republic Front, the National People’s Party, the National Freedom Front, the Podujana United Front, the Democratic National Alliance, Independent Group No. 01, and Independent Group No. 02 received one seat each.
Well informed sources said that the NPP seemed to be having an edge over the SJB-led grouping though the Opposition last week reached consensus on alliance to take over some of the hung councils. The NPP scored outright victories in 161 councils out of 339 bodies to which elections were held on 06 May.
Meanwhile, the March 12 Movement has claimed that political parties/individuals are being bribed by those seeking to form administration at various hung councils. The civil society grouping has said that while conclusive evidence remains limited, widespread public opinion suggests that financial incentives and other benefits may have influenced the support extended to various parties. Such perceptions, whether confirmed or not, do not bode well for the future of local governance, the group has said.