Rajapaksa coalition returned to power
Source: Agencies |
April 10, 2010, Saturday
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition has won Sri Lanka's first postwar parliamentary elections, the Election Department said yesterday, further consolidating his political dominance.
The department said Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance so far has won 117 of the 225 seats contested in Thursday's polls.
A party must win 113 seats to get a simple majority and form a government.
It remains unclear whether Rajapaksa's coalition can get the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.
Its closest rival, the United National Front, has so far won 46 seats.
Another opposition party led by defeated presidential candidate and former army chief Sarath Fonseka -- who is currently under detention awaiting court-martial -- has won five seats, the department said. Party official Vijitha Herath said Fonseka won one of the seats.
A Tamil party received 12 seats from its stronghold in the northeast, the department said.
So far, results for only 180 seats have been declared.
The department suspended releasing results for 16 seats after it annulled votes from 38 voting stations in two districts and called for a re-vote. Another 29 seats are allocated according to the percentage of the vote each party gets.
Rajapaksa's coalition held 128 seats in the outgoing 225-member Parliament.
Rajapaksa was re-elected in presidential polls three months ago following the end of the long civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels. He is a hero to many of the country's Sinhalese majority who hope he can usher in postwar development and reconciliation.
The department said Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance so far has won 117 of the 225 seats contested in Thursday's polls.
A party must win 113 seats to get a simple majority and form a government.
It remains unclear whether Rajapaksa's coalition can get the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.
Its closest rival, the United National Front, has so far won 46 seats.
Another opposition party led by defeated presidential candidate and former army chief Sarath Fonseka -- who is currently under detention awaiting court-martial -- has won five seats, the department said. Party official Vijitha Herath said Fonseka won one of the seats.
A Tamil party received 12 seats from its stronghold in the northeast, the department said.
So far, results for only 180 seats have been declared.
The department suspended releasing results for 16 seats after it annulled votes from 38 voting stations in two districts and called for a re-vote. Another 29 seats are allocated according to the percentage of the vote each party gets.
Rajapaksa's coalition held 128 seats in the outgoing 225-member Parliament.
Rajapaksa was re-elected in presidential polls three months ago following the end of the long civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels. He is a hero to many of the country's Sinhalese majority who hope he can usher in postwar development and reconciliation.
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