Eastern Awakening For The Opposition Thursday, September 20, 2012 By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan Ph.D In spite of the euphoria of the government on the results of the provincial council elections held on September 08, 2012, the ruling party coalition has received a significant setback in the Eastern Province compared to the results of the parliamentary elections held in April 2010. As a corollary, the opposition parties (ITAK and UNP) have experienced an awakening in the East. In 2010, the TMVP and UPFA contested separately while the SLMC and UNP contested together. The reverse was the case this year. That is, the TMVP and UPFA contested together while the SLMC and UNP contested separately. Therefore, the votes of the TMVP and UPFA in 2010 were added together and the votes of the SLMC and UNP in 2012 were added together for comparison. For example, TMVP-UPFA combine secured 273,977 votes at the 2010 parliamentary elections in the Eastern Province, which dropped to just 200,044 at the 2012 provincial elections. Thus, the total votes secured by the ruling coalition in the Eastern Province dropped by almost 27% between April 2010 and September 2012 – by district the ruling coalition’s votes dropped by 31% in Ampara, 19% in Batticaloa, and 30% in Trincomalee. On the other hand, ITAK-SLMC-TULF-UNP combine received 284,205 votes in the Eastern Province in 2010, which increased to 401,645 in 2012. Hence, the total votes received by key opposition parties in the Eastern Province increased by 41% between April 2010 and September 2012 – by district opposition parties’ votes increased by 50% in Ampara, 39% in Batticaloa, and 30% in Trincomalee. In April 2010 the ruling coalition (UPFA+TMVP) received 47.5% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province which dropped to 32.5% in September 2012. In Ampara district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 34% in September 2012 from 52% in April 2010. In Batticaloa district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 31% in September 2012 from 44% in April 2010. In Trincomalee district the ruling coalition’s share of votes dropped to 35% in September 2012 from 44% in April 2010. On the other hand, SLMC-UNP combine received 27% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province in April 2010 which increased to 33% in September 2012. In Ampara district the SLMC-UNP combine received 48% of the valid votes in September 2012 as opposed to 35% in April 2010. In Batticaloa district the SLMC-UNP combine’s share remained almost the same between April 2010 and September 2012. In Trincomalee district the SLMC-UNP combine received 33% of the valid votes in September 2012 as opposed to 28% in April 2010. Moreover, the ITAK which received 23% of the total valid votes in the Eastern Province in April 2010 increased its share to 31% in September 2012; in Ampara from 10% in April 2010 to 16% in September 2012; in Batticaloa from 39% in April 2010 to 51% in September 2012; in Trincomalee from 24% in April 2010 to 29% in September 2012. Furthermore, in April 2010 the national political parties (DNA+UNP+UPFA) out-performed the ethnic political parties (ITAK+SLMC+TMVP+TULF); that is circa 300,000 votes for the former group against circa 250,000 votes for the latter group. However, in September 2012 the national political parties (JVP+NFF+UNP+UPFA) secured circa 200,000 votes as against over 400,000 votes for the ethnic political parties (ITAK+SLMC+TMVP). The formidable rise of ethnic parties in the East is a backlash against the rise of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in the post-war period. Once again the people of Eastern Province have rejected the government’s policy of development as THE PATHWAY to reconciliation and lasting peace in the country. The eastern awakening of the opposition parties is a consolation amidst the resounding wins of the ruling coalition in the other two provinces.