Had he been given a chance to lead the campaign for last Saturday’s Eastern Provincial Council polls, the UNP would have recorded a landslide victory over the Government, UNP National Organiser S.B. Dissanayake said yesterday.

"Allegations of intimidation of UNP activists during the campaign are on record. I know how to win elections under such threatening situations. But I was denied an opportunity. The East would have been in the UNP’s hands if I had been given the chance to lead the campaign," the seasoned campaigner lamented.

There was no point in accusing the winners of malpractices after losing an election. "What matters at the end is the victory," he said.

The UNP had a golden opportunity to grab the floating votes, especially after the JVP crisis, but threw it away.

"The JVP’s campaign was in disarray and the UNP could have exploited the opportunity to muster these votes. Instead, it now seems that those who were disgusted with the JVP had voted with the Government," Dissanayake said.

Dissanayake was scheduled to leave the country yesterday for the United States to attend to a matter related to his son’s education. His son is studying in the USA.