Sri Lanka Election: President Dissanayake's Coalition Wins Majority

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka's leftist coalition has won a landslide victory in the country's snap legislative elections. The partial election results from the island nation's election commission indicate that Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) was far ahead of the opposition alliance with 62% of the vote and a majority of seats.

According to the Al Jazeera report, the NPP had secured 137 seats in the 225-member parliament and was leading in all but one of 22 electoral districts as of 11:30am local time. Meanwhile, opposition alliance Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by Sajith Premadasa, had 35 seats. Out of 225 seats in the parliament, 196 MPs will be elected directly. The rest will be nominated by parties based on the percentage of votes they win. According to the election commission, the turnout in Thursday’s vote was about 65%. Notably, this percentage is lower than it was during the September presidential election, when about 80% of eligible voters cast a ballot. 

"We believe that this is a crucial election that will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka," said Anura Kumara Dissanayaka after voting. Dissanayake comfortably won the country's presidential election in September. However, his coalition had just three seats in parliament before the snap election, prompting him to dissolve it and seek a fresh mandate.