Sri Lanka's Ruling
Coalition Claims Election Victory
President
Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition has won Sri Lanka's first
postwar parliamentary elections further consolidating his
political dominance after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers last
year.
The Election Department said Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom
Alliance has so far, won one hundred and seventeen of the two
hundred and twenty-five seats contested in Thursday's polls.
That represents about 65% of the votes and its tally was
expected to rise.
The closest rival, the United National Front, has so far won
forty-six seats out of the one hundred and eighty seats that
have been declared.
The election department suspended releasing results for 16
seats after it annulled votes from 38 voting stations in
two districts and called for a revote. A date for the revote is
yet to be announced.
Rajapaksa's coalition held 128 seats in the outgoing
225-member Parliament.
Claiming victory
Government Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, said the election
victory was a clear manifestation of the people's confidence in
the president and the government.
A party must win one hundred and thirteen seats to get a simple
majority and form a government.
‘Constitution reform’
It remains unclear whether or not Rajapaksa's coalition can
secure the two-thirds majority needed to change the
constitution, which could open the way for an amendment to allow
the president to serve beyond the end of his second term in
2017.
United National Front official Tissa Attanayake cried foul over
the elections but acknowledged his party had suffered a setback.
He said the government illegally used government resources for
the campaign and employed violence and intimidation during the
campaign and on Election Day.
Challenges
A key issue confronting the new government will be how to
reconcile with the Tamil community following the end of the
civil war.
Rajapaksa has yet to follow through on his promise to discuss a
power-sharing deal with the Tamils, more than two hundred
thousand of whom remain displaced by the war.
AP/Williams/Yinka
