24 August, 2008 - Published 11:20 GMT

UPFA secures sweeping victory

The ruling coalition in Sri Lanka has won elections for two provincial councils (PC) that the government had described as a referendum on its conduct of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) has secured an outright majority on both Sabaragamuwa and North Central PCs.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has described the result as a victory for the ongoing war against the LTTE.

Victory 'for troops'

"While the majority of our people have been able to defeat the many vicious efforts of forces that were ranged against the country, the strength and morale that our heroic troops will receive from this victory in their battles to finally end bloody terrorism from our country is immeasurable," a President's statment said.

President Rajapaksa's former political ally, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), that won 37 seats at the last parliamentary seats, has only secured three seats in both councils.

In NCPC, the UPFA has won 20 seats while the main opposition, United National Party (UNP) has won 12 seats.

The JVP that has won a seat in Anuradhapura district has failed to win any seat in Polonnaruwa district.

In Sabaragamuwa, the UPFA has won 25 seat while the UNP and JVP securing 17 seats and two seats respectively.

There were a number of complaints about violence and intimidation, but local monitors said that polling day passed off relatively calmly compared with previous elections.