With this latest victory the UPFA now control over 80 percent of the Local Councils that went to the polls during 2011. The party won 205 LG bodies out of 234 at the elections in March and later in polls held in July it won 45 out of 65 LG bodies.

The UPFA overall secured 271 councils out of 322 that went to the polls in 2011. The main opposition UNP won 10 local councils in all three stages.

Also during the three stages of local council elections held in 2011, the ITAK secured 30 LG bodies while the government ally SLMC also won 5, the National Congress and the TULF won 2 each.

During the third phase which ended yesterday the United National Party (UNP) managed to win the Colombo Municipal Council. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress won the Kalmunai Municipal Council.

In Colombo, Democratic People’s Front returned six members, while the SLMC and Democratic Unity Alliance returned two members each. The JVP returned only one member and two other independent groups one each.

Politicians and civil society members yesterday described the win by UPFA as another ringing endorsement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s leadership and the government’s overall success in developing the country.

Meanwhile, election Commission authorities and monitors said that the poll had been concluded in a very peaceful atmosphere and there had been high enthusiasm from the voters. Overall more than 60 per cent of voters had cast their votes.

The UPFA recorded their biggest margin of victory at the Gampaha Municipal Council by securing 74 percent of the votes cast.

Among its notable achievements, the UPFA yesterday took the control of Kandy, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Gampaha and Nuwara Eliya municipalities and the Kolonnawa Urban Council from the UNP. The UPFA secured comfortable victories in 15 Municipal Councils, 01 Urban Council and 05 Pradeshiya Sabhas.

A total of 6488 candidates contested at the LG polls in Colombo, Dehiwala, Mt Lavinia, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Moratuwa, Galle, Negombo, Matara, Hambantota, Matale, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Kurunegala, Kalmunai, Anuradhapura, Badullla, Ratnapura, Kolonnawa, Kotikawatta, Mulleriyawa, Kundasale, Gangawatakorale and Sooriyawewa.