REFUGEE

NFF Leader Wimal Weerawansa has accused SLFP candidates of stealing preferential votes from the three NFF candidates at the Southern Provincial Council election.

Wimal had made this statement to a journalist from a national newspaper who had contacted him through his wife’s mobile phone to receive a comment on the defeat of the three NFF representatives at the Southern Provincial Council election. The journalist had to contact Wimal through his wife’s mobile phone since Wimal’s mobile phone has been switched off since the preferential vote results of the election were released.
Wimal had said that the NFF candidates were heading the preferential votes list by midnight on the 10th and they were later pushed back in the list due to changes made in the number of preferential votes received by each candidate. He had added that changing preferential votes was common and had taken place even during the previous provincial council elections.

Wimal had further told the journalist that he did not wish to make any public statements on the matter, but would discuss with the President on the possibility of appointing an NFF member to one of the bonus seats received by the government in the Southern Provincial Council.

Although the government recorded a victory at the Southern Provincial Council election, the three NFF members who contested from the Alliance were defeated. Among the 26 candidates who contested from the Alliance in the Galle District, the NFF candidate is at the 24th place.

In the Matara District, the NFF member is the 20th in the list of 21 candidates while in the Hambantota District, the NFF member is the 14th in the list of 15 candidates who contested from the Alliance.