RED TIDE RISING

Sweeping win for Sri Lanka's ruling leftists in parliament polls raises hope for progressive economic growth

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

When President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National Peoples Power (NPP) coalition was contesting the parliamentary elections, most observers thought they would not be able to cross the magic number of 113 seats in the 225-member house. The NPP, however, swept the polls, winning 159 seats, pushing the traditional power clans and parties into irrelevance and raising hope for progressive economic growth in the country.

For years, Sri Lankan politics was dominated by a number of political stalwarts, their families and the parties they floated. The Marxist-Leninist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the leading party in the NPP coalition, is the first outsider group to capture power in the island nation. “People believed that we can transform Sri Lanka and bring development to the country and so they have chosen us. We will continue to work for the people,” said Anil Jayanta Fernando, who has been appointed minister for labour welfare.

What is perhaps all the more surprising is the NPP’s performance in the Tamil heartland of Jaffna and Vanni, in the Northern Province. In Jaffna, M.A. Sumanthiran, the leader of the Tamil Nationalist Alliance and a very popular face among the Tamils, was voted out. In the east, except for Batticaloa, the NPP made inroads into most constituencies. It won 12 of 28 seats in the north and the east dominated by Tamils and Muslims, marking the first time a coalition based in the south has won in the north and the east. In Nuwara Eliya, a stronghold of hill country Tamils, the NPP made impressive gains pushing traditional parties like the Ceylon Congress behind. The tenth parliament has 160 new faces; only 37 sitting MPs got re-elected. At least 100 new MPs are from the NPP.