Sri Lanka’s leftist National People’s Power (NPP) coalition, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, has secured a sweeping victory in Thursday’s snap general election, winning 141 of 196 directly elected seats.
The unprecedented mandate, which included strong support from Tamil-majority northern and eastern regions, gives the president’s party a two-thirds majority to implement his reform agenda to tackle poverty and corruption in the crisis-hit nation.
The NPP garnered nearly 62% of the vote, significantly improving on Dissanayake’s 42% share in September’s presidential election. The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, previously dominant under the Rajapaksa family with 145 seats, was reduced to just two seats.
“We see this as a critical turning point for Sri Lanka”, Dissanayake said after voting on Thursday. The remaining 29 parliamentary seats will be allocated based on parties’ proportional vote share nationwide.
While the result strengthens political stability, analysts note uncertainty remains over Dissanayake’s plans to renegotiate terms of the International Monetary Fund’s $2.9 billion bailout programme. The country is showing signs of recovery following its 2022 economic crisis, though high living costs remain a key concern.
“The president has a huge mandate now to carry through the reforms but also huge expectations from the people”, said Bhavani Fonseka from the Centre for Policy Alternatives think tank in Colombo.
(With information from Reuters)
