The National People’s Power (NPP) led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured an unprecedented landslide victory at the November 14 general election winning 159 seats in the tenth Parliament which will be convened on November 21. Of the 22 districts, the NPP consolidated power in 21 districts.
Winning 159 parliamentary seats with 141 secured out of the votes and 18 from the national list, the NPP set a new record by being the first ever single party to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The NPP also broke another record by achieving the highest number of votes obtained by a single party in Sri Lanka’s Parliamentary election history securing 6,863,186 votes surpassing the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s (SLPP) record of 6,853,693 votes in 2020.
Vijitha Herath secured the highest number of preferential votes for the NPP from the Gampaha district – 716,715, the highest number of votes secured by a candidate at a general election.
Dr. Harini Amarasuriya who contested from the Colombo district on the NPP ticket secured 655,289 preferential votes and was ranked first in the Colombo district – the highest number of votes received by a candidate in the Colombo district in Sri Lanka’s political history.
The other parties which won seats including seats from the National List in the new Parliament are the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) – 40 seats, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) – eight seats, New Democratic Front (NDF) – five seats, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) – three seats each, Sarvajana Balaya (SB) – one National List seat, United National Party (UNP), Democratic Tamil National Alliance (DTNA), All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), Jaffna Independent Group 17 and Sri Lanka Labour Party (SLLP) – one seat each.
At the November 14 general election, the NPP established many exceptional election records – the highest percentage of votes obtained by a single party – 61.56 percent. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) secured 60.33 percent in 2010.
Winning 152 of the 160 electorates at the general election is also another record set up by the NPP. In 2010, the UPFA won 136 electorates. The NPP also scored a first, winning 21 of the 22 electoral districts. The UPFA won 19 districts in 2010.
The NPP set another record by winning 141 seats, the highest number at district level. The SLPP won the highest number – 128 seats in 2020. It is also a record to obtain the highest number of 18 National List MPs. The SLPP won 17 National List MPs in 2020. The NPP also won the highest number – 159 seats at the general election and the SLPP won 145 seats in 2020.
This victory will also go down in history as the first time that a single party has won a two-thirds majority of the 225 seats in Parliament under the Proportional Representation system.
General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva told the media soon after the party secured a two-thirds majority in Parliament that the people had rejected the racist politicians and placed their utmost confidence in the NPP.
He said that the victory at the general election was a victory for the people in the country and added that he wished to express his sincere gratitude to all those who contributed towards the party’s victory.
He said the new Government will only use the sweeping mandate it received to fulfill the people’s expectations and drive the country towards socio-economic development and not to bolster his party’s image, strength or supporters.
Highlighting his party’s victory in the North, the East and upcountry areas which had a sizable proportion of the Tamil and Muslim community members, Silva said that the people had defeated the divisive politics of past rulers.
