Clear shift in Lankan politics as Dissanayake’s NPP coalition wins 159 seats- The Week

Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power (NPP) on Friday swept the polls by securing a landslide victory in the Parliamentary snap polls held on November 14. The NPP led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 159 out of the 225 seats in the parliament. The decisive mandate for Anura in the election indicates a clear shift in Sri Lanka’s political landscape, where all the traditional parties have been voted out.

The NPP, which contested under the Malimawa or the Compass symbol secured 61.56 percent votes while its closest opponent Samagi Jana Balawegaya led by Sajith Premadasa secured 17.66 percent votes. Sri Lanka has 17 million voters, out of which 68.93 per cent voted on November 14, in the parliament polls.

“Thank you to all who voted for a renaissance,” Anura said in a brief statement on social media platform X.

Anura’s JVP-NPP combine had just three parliamentarians before Thursday’s snap parliament elections. And this made him dissolve the House and go for fresh parliament polls. His party had secured 62 per cent votes or almost seven million votes in this election. This is a decisive and massive mandate.

In September when Anura won the presidential election he had won only 42 percent of the votes in Sri Lanka. This indicates that he had drawn more widespread support including from minorities and built on his victory in the past two months.

This is the first time in the history of Sri Lanka a single combination particularly a left-leaning party has achieved a brute majority in the parliament under the proportional representation system.

The NPP which had won 68.63 lakh votes in the election now has 141 elected members and 18 members from the national list in the parliament, taking its tally to 159.

The Sajith Premadasa’s SJB will have 40 members and will continue as the opposition leader. The largest Tamil party, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK)  has got six seats and the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe-led New Democratic Front has won four seats.

The JVP-NPP combine had won in Jaffna and Vanni, the traditionally hardline Tamil areas. This was the first time in history a Sinhala-Buddhist party had won in the northern province. The Tamils in these two districts have rejected the Tamil political parties and voted for Anura’s party, clearly indicating that the country is witnessing a fundamental change in the mindset of the people and the way politics is conducted in Sri Lanka.

In the hill areas also, where there are majority Tamil voters, the JVP-NPP combine had won five out of the eight seats. In the South, where the Rajapaksa party was very strong, the NPP had won the majority of seats, wiping out Mahinda’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). This is the first time in the past two decades that the all-powerful Rajapaksas have been completely wiped out.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party, which had a majority in the outgoing parliament after winning the 2020 election, has been reduced to just two seats with 0.16 per cent votes.

Anura and his party’s victory in the election marks a clear shift in the country’s political decision-making. The party which had never been in power before and was considered a fringe element has come to power. Anura and the party have always spoken about people’s rights and are hardline communists and Marxists led by Marxist ideals.

During his campaign for the presidential polls and also now during the parliament election, Anura sought a massive mandate from the people, saying if he is voted with a thumping majority he will be able to deliver on his promises.

He said that he could implement his agenda, like tackling the deepening economic crisis, working on the anti-poverty programmes, cutting down on government expenditure and taking tax austerity measures only if he gets a massive mandate. Incidentally, in the past two months when in power, Anura ensured that he ran the government without disturbing the existing system and without antagonising the people.

It is a new era for Sri Lanka under Anura and his new set of parliamentarians. Sources say that Dr Harini Amarasuriya is likely to continue as the prime minister while a new 27-member cabinet will be appointed soon after the final results are declared. Also, the first session of the tenth parliament under Anura will be convened anytime soon before the end of November.

Anura now has the majority powers to formulate any policy decision the JVP-NPP combine had promised to, including abolishing the executive presidency. The clear mandate strengthens political stability in the South Asian country and the world over is waiting to watch Anura’s policy decisions. He had promised to try and tweak the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).