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The National People’s Power, the ruling alliance of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, secured a landslide victory in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections. The alliance, in which Mr. Dissanayake’s leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) is the main constituent, won 159 seats in the 225-member Parliament. The main opposition, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by Sajith Premadasa ended up with 40 seats, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, which used to be the most powerful political entity in the country under the Rajapaksas until 2022, won just three seats, down from 145 in 2020.
The results show how Sri Lanka has changed after the 2022 protests. In the September Presidential election, Mr. Dissanayake, a political outsider, clinched an upset victory by defeating the candidates of establishment parties. And the parliamentary election results show that the political momentum is still in favour of him. To understand the magnitude of the NPP’s victory, take a look at the numbers. The alliance had just three seats in the last assembly. It wanted to win at least 113 seats for an absolute majority. And it has secured a two-thirds majority, a first under in Sri Lanka’s proportional representation system. The Hindu’s readers wouldn’t have been surprised by the results. Meera Srinivasan, our correspondent in Sri Lanka, wrote on November 13, on the eve of the election, that “opposition parties “appear to have conceded early, going by their muted campaigns that are pitching a ‘strong opposition’ to the electorate… It is widely expected that the [ruling] alliance will secure a majority, owing to two reasons: an AKD [as Mr. Dissanayake is popularly known] wave and Sri Lanka’s electoral history shows that the party of a newly-elected President often garners a parliamentary majority, especially when the general election is held soon after the presidential poll.”
The NPP managed to secure such a big victory because it made inroads into different sections of Sri Lanka’s voters, including its ethnic and religious minorities. NPP candidates won 12 out of 28 seats in five electoral districts in the north and east, outperforming regional parties, demonstrating successful outreach and voter shift due to its promise to improve daily lives. How did the NPP win over the minorities? Read this analysis by Meera Srinivasan.
The JVP took the back-to-back victories as an opportunity. In this interview with The Hindu, JVP general secretary Tilvin Silva said the party now has a chance to rewrite Sri Lanka’s history and promised that the new government will work on the basis of development, democracy and social justice. Speaking about the NPP’s victory in the country’s Tamil areas, Mr. Silva said the victory “gives us a real chance to build a united country.” Mr. Dissanayake and his alliance have a clear mandate. The voters broke with the tradition, overlooked establishment and regional parties and backed him, not once but twice. Now it’s up to Mr. Dissanayake to offer the change he promises.
Trump 2.0
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is moving fast picking loyalists for his Cabinet posts. His picks suggests that Mr. Trump has opted for a mix of both traditionalists and anti-establishment candidates. For example, he chose Pete Hegseth a former National Guard officer-turned-TV presenter, known for his anti-woke crusade, to run the Pentagon. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine sceptic, will be the new Health Secretary and Tulsi Gabbard, a fierce critic of America’s neoconservative foreign policy and wars, will be the director of National Intelligence. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, one-time Presidential hopeful, will lead what Trump has termed a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But Mr. Trump picked politicians who are largely acceptable for the establishment as State Secretary (Marco Rubio) and National Security Adviser (Mike Waltz). He has also appointed Susie Wiles as the first woman Chief of Staff to the President. What do these appointments mean for America and the rest of the world? Read this profile of Trump 2.0, by Narayan Lakshman.
The Top Five
1. Will Riyadh summit have an impact on Gaza war?
Why have the Arab states sent a message that resolving the Palestine question is key to peace in West Asia? writes Stanly Johny.
2. A devastating blow to global climate efforts
Donald’s Trump’s re-election casts an ominous shadow over the climate crisis, write Sujatha Byravan and Sudhir Chella Rajan.
3. Why is Germany headed for snap polls?
How did the ‘traffic light’ coalition fall? Why did German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fire his Finance Minister? Why did last year’s constitutional court ruling affect the federal budget? What are its ratings? How is it expected to perform in the elections? writes Joan Sony Cheriyan.
4. A mixed report card for the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor
Implementation on the northern part of the corridor, which is mostly in West Asia, is going to move slowly until the conflict subsides, while progress is faster on the eastern leg connecting the UAE and Indian ports, write Afaq Hussain and Akhtar Malik.
Israelis should ask themselves if they are feeling secure after more than a year of his aimless wars. There needs to be an independent investigation into the security lapses of October 7 and hold those responsible in the government, military and intelligence accountable. This is essential to prevent another October 7-type attack, writes The Hindu in this editorial.
Published – November 18, 2024 04:39 pm IST
