Explained: Anura Dissanayake's NPP Wins Snap Elections In Sri Lanka Is This A Turning Point For The Island Nation?
Date
11/15/2024 3:39:46 AM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition has won a landslide victory in the country's snap parliamentary polls.
Dissanayake-led National People's Power (NPP) coalition won at least 137 seats in the 225-member parliament after securing around 62 per cent of the vote in ballots counted so far, according to election commission data. The opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa-led alliance Samagi Jana Balawegaya , was well behind with only 18 per cent votes and just 35 seats, according to reports by various news agencies.
“Sri Lankans handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a thumping win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty and fight graft as the country recovers from a financial meltdown,” a report by Reuters said.
The main constituent of the NPP is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), with Dissanayake as its leader.
Voters directly elect 196 members to parliament from 22 constituencies under a proportional representation system. According to a report in Reuters, the remaining 29 seats will be allocated according to the island-wide proportional vote obtained by each party.
Dissanayake's victory in September? Dissanayake, a left-leaning leader, swept the Sri Lankan presidential elections held in September this year, promising to combat graft and recover stolen assets.
The fifty-year-old defeated prominent names including incumbent President Ranil Wickremesingh e, who finished third with just 17 per cent of the votes and Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who managed less that 3 per cent of votes in the Saturday's election.
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