A resounding victory: on the Sri Lankan election result

It is an unambiguous and resounding mandate for the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP), a coalition that includes civil society groups and trade unions, in Sri Lanka’s just-concluded parliamentary election. The election has demonstrated the NPP’s growing appeal among all sections, who had in 2022, frustrated with economic hardships and the old political establishment, thrown out what they despised as a corrupt regime. Having elected JVP chief Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the country’s President in September, the people have now provided the ruling alliance with a hard-to-get over two-thirds majority. The NPP, which has secured 141 seats, with around 6.87 million votes in 196 seats, bagged 18 more seats under the system of proportional representation, giving it 159 seats in total in the 225-member legislature. The NPP has accomplished what former President Mahinda Rajapaksa could not get in the 2010 poll after the LTTE’s defeat.

The significance of the poll also lies in the extent and geographic span of the NPP’s victory. It has been a remarkable show in Jaffna and Vanni in the Northern Province, that is home to Tamils and the stronghold of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi. Except for Batticaloa, the NPP emerged the top party in the east, with its sizeable population of Muslims, and in the Central Province’s Nuwara Eliya district, with its majority hill-country Tamils. In its vote share, island-wide, the coalition outperformed Mr. Dissanayake, who touched the 50% mark only in four electoral districts in the September poll. The rise of the coalition, from three seats with 3.84% vote share in 2020, to a super majority now, is remarkable. The political calculations of Mr. Dissanayake, who called for a poll within days of assuming office, have paid off, as the Opposition did not put up a fight. Though Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya remains the principal Opposition party in Parliament, its vote share has dropped considerably. The parties backed by two former Presidents, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mr. Rajapaksa, have performed miserably. While voters have spared Mr. Dissanayake the compulsion of seeking allies to pursue his reform agenda, he should still consult all sections. His promises at the time of the presidential poll, such as the abolition of executive presidency, a new Constitution, and the repeal of oppressive laws, cannot be fulfilled merely with support in the legislature. The big takeaway from the November 14 poll is that the country has voted for decisive change that it sought from the time of the citizen’s uprising in 2022. Mr. Dissanayake, at the commencement of his innings, described the unity of Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, and all Sri Lankans as the bedrock of the new beginning. He can now build on this unity.