Minister C.B. Ratnayake has stated that there is a decrease in the overall vote base of the government and no one is in a position to deny the decline.

“We may have committed mistakes. Perhaps there are some errors on our part. It is our responsibility to rectify our mistakes. This is my personal opinion and this does not reflect the viewpoint of the government,” the minister said in an interview with a vernacular newspaper today.

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“One has to understand signs before the rain. Otherwise, when the rain comes, there will be various troubles. When one reads signs before the rain, he can take precautionary measures like finding an umbrella,” the Minister added.

He said the election results are not suggestive of any erosion in popularity of the President. “But it sends a message to the leaders at the ground level to pull their socks up and work more. “

He also added that the results of the Uva PC election would not make any impact on the outcome of a national level election. “It is widely speculated that a presidential election is in the offing. The result of the Presidential election will be in sharp contrast with that of the Uva PC election,” the Minister explained.

“However,” the Minister said,” one should not undermine the victory achieved by the government at the recently held Uva Provincial Council election. When it comes to an election victory, there is no question about the margin. Even if you win an election by 100000 votes, it is still a remarkable victory,” he said.

However, at the swearing in ceremony of the members of the Uva Provincial Council, President Mahinda Rajapaksa asserted that no party should undermine the victory secured by the UPFA at the Uva PC election saying UNP CM Candidate Harin Fernando had failed in making a difference.