By Rathindra Kuruwita
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) swept the 14 November general election, securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament with 6,863,186 votes (61.56) and 159 seats. This is the first time a political party has obtained a two-thirds majority under the proportional representation electoral system.
The NPP won 21 out of 22 electoral districts––Digamadulla, Gampaha, Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam, Jaffna, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Kegalle, Anuradhapura, Vanni, Kalutara, Nuwara Eliya, Matale, Trincomalee, Badulla, Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Galle, and Matara electoral districts. Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) won the Batticaloa district.
This is the largest number of seats ever obtained by a single party since the parliamentary seat count was increased to 225. This is also the highest percent of valid votes obtained by a political party in a parliamentary election in the country . Previously this record was held by United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in 2010 (60.33 percent).
The NPP also secured the highest number of electorates a party had won in a general election (152), breaking a record by UPFA in 2010 (136).
NPP won the highest number of electoral districts––21––breaking a record by UPFA in 2010 (19).
NPP also secured the highest number of votes by a party, breaking the SLPP’s 6,853,960 in 2020.
The election results also marked a setback for Opposition political parties. Sajith Premadasa’s SJB won 40 seats with 1,968,716 votes, down sharply from the 4.3 million votes it garnered in September’s presidential election. The SLPP was reduced to just three seats and 350,429 votes—a stunning fall from its 59 percent landslide victory in 2020. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s New Democratic Front (NDF) obtained only five seats with 500,835 votes, a significant decline from his 2.2 million votes in the presidential election. The ITAK won eight seats with 257,813 votes.
“One of the most remarkable aspects of this was NPP winning most of the North and East. This was a shock to many. This marks a new chapter in our political history,” Manjula Gajanayake, Executive Director, Institute of Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies (IRES) told The Island.
A large number of prominent MPs failed to retain their seats. These include Manusha Nanayakkara, Harin Fernando, Kanchana Wijesekera, Johnston Fernando, Ramesh Pathirana, and Mahinda Amaraweera. SJB stalwart Eran Wickramaratne, too, failed to enter Parliament. Former MP Ranjan Ramanayake, too, failed to win, while Dilith Jayaweera’s Sarvajana Balaya secured a single National List seat.
