UNP Wins Colombo Municipal Council
The UNP has lost everything except Colombo. I volunteered for the UPFA candidate Milinda Moragoda, and this sucks. I think he had a better plan. We tried and failed.
The center held. Before I thought it was the UNP’s to lose, and it turned out to be true. Last night tho, as they were getting hammered everywhere else, I thought it would happen in Colombo as well.
This overall hammering didn’t make me happy. It showed how weak the opposition has become, largely through the machinations of one stubborn man, Ranil. I did, however, want them to lose Colombo, cause I thought Milinda could have done something really cool.
Neighborhood committees, digitally empowered, collecting data, solving problems, man. But people voted for the old party, tho there’s little they can do.
Why did Milinda lose? Partly history. Colombo has been UNP for 50 years. Also because he didn’t muscle thru, he didn’t use posters or massive rallies and ran a cerebral, intelligent campaign.
By contrast, thugs like Duminda Silva shot people and got shot in the head, but still organized Kolonnawa enough to win. Perhaps cerebral politics doesn’t work, perhaps it was too soon, or perhaps it just wasn’t what people wanted. It was worth a try.
I wish the new UNP administration well and hope that they can develop Colombo to its potential. I took a lot of flak for supporting a government candidate, but in the end we must be the only people to ‘cross’ and get nothing for it :).
Perhaps because I didn’t cross in the sense of gain. I liked the man, I liked the plan, I volunteered my time and I voted. That’s democracy. Sometimes you try and sometimes you fail. I guess it’s better than getting shot in the face.
Posted on Sunday, October 9th, 2011 in Colombo, election, General, Politics.
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The chutzpah of this government knows no bounds. Every government since Independence has had to balance placating Sinhala nationalists (AKA racists) while at the same time actually running a sensible, inclusive nation that doesn’t send minority citizens, capital and foreign investment fleeing. Basically, they’ve had to pay lip service to nationalists while at the same time trying to run an actual nation. Every government has also generally failed, SWRD being killed by a nationalist monk and everyone after almost losing the country to various rebellions. In that context Mahinda is actually doing a better job by virtue of not being dead and not losing control of the country. But he’s still not doing a good job.
Oh my god. Colombo is finished.
I dont think it was because people voted for the party. I think the ruling party lost mainly due to fears about people losing their homes. Moragoda also doesn’t have the common touch that the ordinary man feels comfortable with. The Muslims and Tamils would have mostly voted for their own people, and the upper crust Colombo folk wouldn’t have bothered to go and vote. I’m just guessing, I havent seen the results properly yet.
Sorry about your disappointment Indi, but not sorry that an opposition candidate won, just because it’s nice to know that a semblance of opposition exists in this country. Only hope they make something of this victory to reorganise the party and to do something for the city. As someone pointed out they dont really need government money. The mayoral candidate seems a little old school, but there must be some bright people left in the party who could achieve something for the city if given a chance. Also hope the government does not try to scuttle any projects embarked upon by the new administration.
Muslim and Tamil votes usually go to the UNP.
Need to see the turnout. A lot of people I know did not bother to vote including most of my family. I put one in as an afterthought, did not even know who to vote for, almost put the cross on the PA box by mistake.
That would put you squarely in the upper crust Colombian category :D
That would be Sinhala or Tamil, because, even upper crust Muslims would know their candidate.
What about Mano Ganeshan? Isns’t he a moderate who would appeal to upper crust Tamil Colombians, if they spared a thought for the elections I mean?
I’ve been calling myself a Colombian long before it became a derogatory term….. I was looking for something other than Ceylonese, which is how would like to be described, although I’m not an ancient ruin ;D
Never followed anything on the municipal election, to be honest so did’nt know any of the candidates except Milinda Moragoda and later on in passing, Muzzamil although I did not know his number.
Are you by any chance this guy
http://tinyurl.com/3wm3asl
Heh heh how did you guess?
LOL !
As usual Shammi, your analysis makes sense.
Hell, how did he manage to lose?
I was expecting indifference from the UNP base, no turnout therefore UPFA would win handsomely. Seems to have happened elsewhere but for some odd reason Colombo was not affected.
I think the UPFA is making more enemies than I thought.
Not that the UNP will be allowed to do anything anyway, the UDA wil run the show.
It must hurt you to accept reality Indi, but Milinda lost because the people of Colombo, quite clearly, chose to vote in favor of a weak, crumbling opposition rather than sell out to a smarmy, ineffectual man.
Colombo – thankfully – educated itself, believed in what was right and chose to vote against what was quite clearly wrong – and the results of that my friend, is democracy.
In saying you believe that Milinda lost because “Colombo has been UNP for 50 years” you make Colombo out to be composed of bumbling fools, blindly loyal to one party – unable to comprehend the finer points of “a cerebral, intelligent campaign” and unable to make an educated, informed vote. What folly.
And as for Milinda not muscling through, using posters/massive rallies – what lies do you speak? No other candidate had the Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse ask for votes on behalf of him, Milinda spent most of the run up to the election “traipsing wattes” and rallying for votes – that in fact was the Moragoda team’s sole excuse for Milinda’s non engagement on social networks and what of the govt hoardings illegally used?
Your dreams of digital empowerment, data collection and problem solving are but idealistic notions in the hands of a government that doesn’t believe in basic human rights. And the people of Colombo know this. The fact that the tired UNP led by Ranil won over Milinda Moragoda should tell you just how unpopular and untrustworthy your golden boy is.
What she said. Especially the last paragraph.
Also what she said. Hopefully the UNP will show a semblance of opposition to what is now Gota’s show. Lets not fool ourselves into thinking Milinda would have allowed to run any show, even if he did have some good ideas.
Laughable Roel… the UNP won in Colombo simply because most people just vote green because that’s what they have done for so long. It is stupidity and blind faith. Do you honestly believe that the UNP has done anything special for Colombo for the last few decades while it was in power? I mean seriously? Garbage, slums, poor planning, dirty run down streets, the list just goes on… If you were living in shit you would vote for someone else to at least have a go at changing it but the “intelligent” people of Colombo prefer to wallow in shit…
Another liberazzi who fails at basic analysis. Last general election unp got around 60% of the colombo vote, now they have only 42%. Think about that for a second.
“you make Colombo out to be composed of bumbling fools, blindly loyal to one party ”
You don’t think Colombites are bumbling fools, blindly loyal to one party? We’re talking about the same people who voted for a three wheeler driver with no political or governing experience, just because the UNP backed him.
Wow what an analysis Roel. I hope your new UNP mayor will do a better job than your previous mayor aka the “3 wheel guy”. LOL
@Shammi: Well said mate.
I’ve kept my mouth shut about politics this time around, but just a thought: The end of the UNP in Colombo would’ve meant the end of Ranil’s leadership, and the government wouldn’t want that (proven by the whole roadworks near Sirikotha drama).
For all intents and purposes, Gota is in charge of Colombo anyway. They don’t really need municipal-level control.
Like the author of the Forum Milinda is surrounded by a bunch of digitlal images who does not see the heart and the minds of people. Hence do u think any other result than loosing . I cannot Imagine them thinking the FB campaign would get votes. Dream on . Duminda lives with the people . Why don’t you guys pack and live in US or Canada .
aparade…. but Muzammil is a pretty decent fellow, hope he works well with Gota and gets Colombo developed and hope the government does not take the defeat at the CMC personally and stops all the good work it has done so far.
You were right. I have high hopes for Colombo after hearing Muzammil’s speech today. Only hope Ranil won’t go and spoil that soup also.
To me Milinda Moragoda also contributed to this loss. He seem to have questionalble values. I voted for him when he initially was a UNP candidate and came up with quite a few good principles. But since his crossover I see someone who is just another candidate with baseless promises and going with the status quo. Maybe I am wrong but that’s how there general public sees it. That explains his loss.
I hope this result does not discourage you and your father from getting involved in future election campaigns. Though I did not buy the case for your candidate, I did appreciate your involvement, your commentary, and your enthusiasm.
Milinda lost solely because his campaign was not effectively communicated. The reality is, whether you like it or not, posters, cutouts, leaflets, smiley faces still do the trick in here. out of site out of mind. One might remember how Duminda won way back when he was contesting for the first time from UNP… Nobody knew him, nor did he have a vision but just a good looking mug shot. The Colombo girls melted. He won with more than 50000 votes. I agree with India about cerebral campaigns not working here. Only if Mlinda showed them before and after life standards that most of the slum dwellers who were given proper housing (though one might call them simple flats) which are way better than wood planked shanties.. It was UPFA’s time to win… They just screwed it, erebrally!!!
Milinda did, as always, have some good ideas. Indi has been critical of Ranil on not getting the message after one loss after the other, But after 3 straight losses you must perhaps have a chat with your own candidate. Milinda is good, but he bats for the wrong side. if Kumar sangakara bats for Australia, it’s a bit difficult to be cheerful about his cricket, even though the man is a splendid player.
By running on the UPFA ticket milinda turned many who could have been his biggest cheerleaders to be his harshest critics. Whatever the demerits of the UNP, people hate hypocrites. Milinda was the face of the CFA, privatization, and all of the accused neo-liberalism of the UNP regime. To turn then and bat for the other side, who made their case against the UNP on the very issues Milinda used to champion makes him ingenuine, and I can’t vote for that. Nor can anyone who knew him back then. One must remember that this is the guy who got more than 100,000 votes in 2001 and went down to 20,000 in the last gen. election. That surely must tell you something.
Roel’s analysis is idealist, but the truth of the matter is that the central colombo went and voted for their party and their own man. Even the heavy weight muslims like maharoof and Asad Sally couldn’t overturn the loyalty they have for the GOP of colombo. It’s blind, yes, but I’m kind of glad they exist.
As for Milinda’s part I hope he lies low and just goes back to the UNP. Otherwise it’s a shame, He is a man who should be in politics.
If you analyse the overall results (taking into account the earlier provincial elections as well as this was done in phases) there is a clear split all over the country. Urban Colombo people are with UNP, north east is with ITAK, Kalmunai has SLMC and the rest of the island (more remote) have a clear majority for UPFA. I suspect we are more polarized now than ever before.
Most “common” people hate Ravi K, Jayalath J and Mangala much more than Ranil. I remember seeing on TV a UNP rally in North Colombo where the party supporters chase away Ravi K, and same thing happened to Mangala someplace else. As long as it looks as if UNP is run by the “unpatriotic” crowd, the Sinhalese floating-vote will not go in favor of the UNP. Again, all these are arguable, but the voter’s perception is what matters in the end.
Hope the citizens of Colombo enjoy living in a shithole:
Govt. to quit waste management in Colombo city
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=36515
The UNP can do a bang up job like it has for the past 50 yrs :)
that’s just petty. :(
That’s just Ruki. She’s not serious.
Wait were you refering to the government? Yes, that’s certainly petty.
Well the people of Colombo deserve their just desserts… no?
Even the people who voted for the government will get free dessert.
That’s they sucky thing shammi :) Although, the peeps in Mount Lavinia are going to have a bright future with clean roads, new buildings et al.
All my people in the club, they party all night
Its the Def Min that is withdrawing from waste management. Beats me why they were there in the first place, the Municipality needs to attend to this.
What’s the track record when it comes to waste manage and the UNP run municipality Jack?
*management
Not good. They need to come up with a proper plan, I think they are just collecting and dumping it at the mountain in Bloemendhal and another one somewhere else.
I heard that there was some plan to come up with something more sustainable, this is the No.1 priority, not only the collection.
Dont we still have a garbage recycling plant even for Colombo? I thought the infamous “kunu kanda” was not used anymore. I remember hearing something about a new dumping yard in Gampaha, where they promised to follow good practices in disposing the stuff.
It’s not going to be easy for the municipalty to find a place to dump the massive amount of garbage the city must generate. There will invariably be opposition from the residents of the neighbourhood of a dump. I dont understand why each province cant have a few efficient and environmentally friendly garbage disposal/recycling plants. Is the initial investment too high? Surely there’ll be aid agencies willing to help with such projects?
There are reasons why the UDA headed by Gota is so effective. I was at a funeral recently and happened to overhear this cop attached to the Cinnamon Gardens Station relating how Gota was annoyed with the number of dogs messing up the Independence Sqare area at night. One night the UDA had rounded up all the dogs and transported the them to somewhere in Muturajawela and set them loose in an unpopulated area of the marshland. The following morning there had been a deluge of calls to the station from anxious residents, enquiring about missing pets. I suppose they should have known to walk their dogs instead of just letting them out at night. So anyone form Kurunduwatta who lost their dog recently should scout around Muturajawela, but that would be quite a large area to cover.
There are many reasons why the UNP held on to Colombo, despite losing the strongholds of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya. I think chief among these is the fear among many poor people of losing their homes and livelihoods in the cleanup process that is the current government plan. Secondly, Milinda Moragoda alienated his main base in Colombo when he crossed over to the P.A. The type of educated, middle and upper class person who voted for him when he was in the UNP will not forgive that transgression easily. He tries to take the high road in his campaign messages, but that, unfortunately, does not sound credible to many people when they think of how they voted for him once, and he betrayed their trust by crossing over for personal gain. I don’t think that feeling is going to go away until he, if ever, explains himself, and, perhaps, even apologises. His base judges him by a different standard than, say, Duminda’s base, for example, partly because he projects himself as being above petty politics. This is hollow.
Indi, Difference is less than 25,000 votes. Milinda was able to increase the UPFA % from 27 to 32 ; that is about 5% in a alien land to UPFA . This is like Srilanka tries to win a test match in Perth – Australia. So don’t worry , above achivement alone should be an encouragement to Milinda.
I observe other reason. Mahroof was able to get only 6000 pref. votes ; meaning – he was able get only 6000 votes from UNP which was not the expectation from Milinda’s group. They were expecting atleast 25,000 votes coming from UNP supporters due to former UNP stalwarts like Maharoof, Azath Sally , Sirisena Cooray’s Son, Ganeshalingam’s wife etc. If theese people were able to convert atleast 13,000 ( this should not have been a difficult task ; Total polled – 247,000) UNP votes, by way of their personal contacts atleast , Milinda could have been victorios.
Other reason was Milinda and his campaign team was not able to categorically deny the allegation of the shanty dewellers eviction & communicate to the grass root level effectively the message ” Milinda will not destroy the shanties prior to arranging a alternate place for them” specially during the latter part of the campaigne. That was when the Muza & co. was converting their campaigne theme into a ” Vote to protect our home” . Resposnse to this from Milinda’s camp was very weak/poor. Remeber you were in UNP woderland
I don’t agree with you that the celebral , gentlemenly & eco – friendly politics of Milinda was the reason for his down fall. Further as a modern day politician you need those ” Neighborhood committees, digitally empowered, collecting data ” etc.
What is most unfortunate was colombo people & country as a whole, was not able to witness a new era of local governance from a formidable, intelligent & cool man ; Milinda
What i suggest is , you will have to continue the good work with the support of Gota . There should not be any reason for Milinda to start those housing schemes for poor with the assistance of the central govt. & to remove the fear sycosys among as a first step. Then the shanties will undestand the reality & do their duty in next CMC election.