The left-leaning alliance of Sri Lanka’s new leader has secured a landslide victory in the country’s snap parliamentary elections.
Official results show President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) coalition scored a two-thirds majority in parliament, with 159 seats.
President Dissanayake’s coalition got nearly 62% of the vote, winning even in the Tamil-dominated Jaffna Peninsula for the first time since independence from Britain in 1948.
“Thank you to all who voted for a renaissance,” Dissanayake said in a brief statement on social media platform X, previously knows as Twitter.
Correspondents say the victory has cemented a transformation of the island-nation’s political landscape which for decades was dominated by established political parties of family dynasties.
The landslide mandate will also allow him to push through economic and constitutional changes he had promised during the campaign.
In the outgoing assembly, Dissanayake’s party had just three seats.
The 55-year-old earlier told reporters that he believed this was “a crucial election that will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka”.
Sajith Premadasa, the man Dissanayake defeated in the presidential elections, led the opposition alliance.
Dissanayake called for snap elections shortly after he became president to seek a fresh mandate to pursue his policies. There was “no point continuing with a parliament that is not in line with what the people want”, he had said.
Nearly two-thirds of former MPs had chosen not to run for re-election, including prominent members of the former ruling Rajapaksa dynasty.
Out of the 225 seats in the parliament, 196 MPs were directly elected. The rest were nominated by parties based on the percentage of votes they get in what is known as proportional representation.
State of economy was one of the key issues for many voters.
High inflation, food and fuel shortages precipitated a political crisis in 2022 which led to the ousting of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe managed to negotiate a bailout package worth $3bn with the International Monetary Fund – but many Sri Lankans continue to feel economic hardship.
The number of people living below the poverty line in Sri Lanka has risen to 25.9% in the past four years. The World Bank expects the economy to grow by only 2.2% in 2024.
The coalition will now be under massive pressure to perform and live up to their campaign promises. Dissanayake has promised to repay the country’s debt, reform its political culture, and punish members of past administrations for corruption.
Sri Lanka’s economic situation remains precarious – and the main focus is still on providing essential goods and services. How the country progresses from this point will be a real challenge for the new government.
Additional reporting by Kelly Ng
