Sri Lanka Marks Historic Shift As Anura Kumara Dissanayake-Led Leftist Coalition Secures Landslide Victory 10 Points

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake led the National People's Power coalition to a landslide victory on Friday as Sri Lanka concluded snap parliamentary elections. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (also known as United People's Power Party) led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was a distant second with 40 seats and just 17.6% of the voteshare.

Dissanayake had gained prominence after distancing himself from successive leaders blamed for steering the country to its 2022 economic crisis. The country is still trying to recover from its worst financial crash in history - even as a barrage of austerity measures including tax hikes fuelling resentment.

The outpouring of public anger had eventually culminated in the storming of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's compound, prompting his resignation and temporary exile. The country had declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt in 2022.

The Leftist leader has pledged to change a "corrupt" political culture - a message that resonated with millions of Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet in recent years.

• Data from the Election Commission indicated that the National People's Power Party won 159 of the 225 seats in the parliament. The United People's Power Party led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa secured 40 seats.
  
• The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Their party managed to win just three seats in the next assembly.
• The election comes at a decisive time for Sri Lankans as the island nation continues to struggle with its worst economic crisis in history. The margin of victory will enable Dissanayake to carry out sweeping reforms - including a campaign promise of a new constitution - without having to rely on other parties.
• The alliance made history in the Jaffna electoral district as it trounced traditional Tamil nationalist parties in the cultural capital of the community. This is the first time that a predominantly Sinhala party from the country's south has notched this achievement. The United National Party had previously won a solitary seat in the district.
• Party general secretary Tilvin Silva told reporters after final results were announced that they would press ahead with promised reforms to scrap Sri Lanka's powerful executive presidency, first introduced in 1978. The JVP have pledged to revert Sri Lanka to full parliamentary rule, with the prime minister serving as the head of government.
• Dissanayake had campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate a controversial $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund bailout secured by his predecessor. He has softened his stance somewhat since taking office and resolved to maintain the existing agreement with the IMF. He has found strong backing from the Sri Lankan private sector.
• A third review of the IMF programme was delayed due to the parliamentary election. The new government is expected to step up talks with the IMF and fiscal goals set under the programme are likely to be included in a budget to be presented to parliament early next year.
• The Dissanayake-led JVP party is the main constituent in the NPP coalition and has a somewhat controversial past. It had led two insurrections in 1971 and 1987 that resulted in at least 80,000 deaths. It had violently opposed any attempt at power-sharing -- a key Tamil demand during the armed separatist campaign of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
• He was elected president on September 21 after defeating numerous political elites with just 42% of the votes in his favour. This in turn fuelled questions about the prospects of his party in the parliamentary elections. The NPP however received a large increase in support less than two months into his presidency.
• Dissanayake had announced the snap polls shortly after his election as president in September. The new parliament is now set to meet next week.

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