Attempts to buy allegiance of elected LG members?

Following the recently concluded Local Government Election, the Hatton Dickoya Urban Council is facing a predicament where no single party is able to establish power to govern the institution. 

The results of the election saw the United National Party (UNP) win 7 seats, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (CWC) win 6 seats and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Communist Party secured 2 and 1 bonus seat respectively. 

Under this situation, none of the parties are able to establish power alone and as a result of this certain elected members of the LG body have been approached by individuals claiming to be secretaries of powerful ministers in order to buy out their allegiances, sources said. 

It has been revealed that several of these elected members of the Hatton Dickoya Urban Council have received phone calls expressing willingness provide facilities and monetary gains in return for their support. Certain elected members claim they have been offered Rs 10 million each for this purpose, sources said.