Landslide victory for SL Prez’s NPP in parl poll

Sri Lanka's National People's Power of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Friday swept the parliamentary elections by winning a two-thirds majority, and also dominating the Jaffna electoral district - the heartland of the nation's Tamil minority.

The NPP, which contested under the Malimawa (compass) symbol, secured 159 out of the 225 seats in parliament, the first time any party has won a two-thirds majority under the country's proportional representation system introduced in 1978.

The NPP got over 6.8 million or 61 per cent of the votes counted, according to the Election Commission of Sri Lanka. The Samagi Jana Balawegaya headed by Sajith Premadasa was a distant second with 40 seats. The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi got eight seats, the New Democratic Front five, and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress three each. Thursday's poll saw the lowest turnout since 2010.

Dissanayake had announced the snap polls shortly after his election as President in September. The new parliament is now set to meet next week.

The Left-leaning President's alliance made history in the Jaffna electoral district as it trounced traditional Tamil nationalist parties in the cultural capital of the community. Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Santosh Jha met Dissanayake to congratulate him on the landslide victory of his party.