Sri Lanka's presidential camp largely ahead in legislative elections, according to partial results

Photo: Eranga Jayawardena Associated Press Sri Lankans line up to vote at a polling station in Colombo on Thursday.

Amal Jayasinghe – Agence France-Presse in Colombo

Published at 20:28

• Asia

The coalition of Sri Lanka’s first left-wing president, elected in September, is heading for a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections on Friday, according to partial results, an outcome hoped for by the head of state to carry out his reforms in a country in economic crisis.

The NPP led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake dominates the poll with 63% of the vote, according to partial results released by the electoral commission and covering more than half of the votes.

The left-wing NPP coalition, led by the president’s party, the Marxist-inspired People’s Liberation Front (JVP), is leading in almost all electoral constituencies, while it only had three of the 225 seats in the outgoing Parliament.

Marxist by training but largely converted to the market economy since, Mr. Dissanayake, 55, was elected in September to lead a country exhausted by the worst economic crisis in its history and a brutal austerity drive.

His promises to cut taxes on basic necessities and root out corruption have won him broad support among voters.

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“We believe this election is crucial and will be a turning point for the country,” Dissanayake told reporters as he cast his ballot in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.

“The NPP expects a clear mandate and a strong majority in parliament from this election,” he added.

The early poll, manned by more than 80,000 police officers, went off without major incident.

The counting of votes from the 17 million registered voters began on Thursday as soon as polling stations closed in 4 p.m. local.

“I hope for a new country, a new government that understands the people,” voter Milton Gankandage told AFP as he cast his ballot early Thursday at a polling station in the Boralesgamuwa neighborhood of Colombo.

“The old leaders have disappointed us. We strongly support the new generation of leaders who will develop the country,” the 70-year-old retiree continued.

“Hope for change”

All analysts predicted a landslide victory for the presidential camp against divided opponents.

“The opposition is dead,” said analyst Kusal Perera. “The outcome of the election is a closed matter: the NPP will form the next government.”

“I hope for the same result as in the last [presidential] election,” said another voter in the capital, Sivalogadasan, 52, who is running under one name.

Although his party retained the communist hammer and sickle as its emblem, Anura Kumara Dissanayake campaigned with unexpected support from business circles.

At one time worried, business leaders and businessmen were reassured by his decision not to throw out the agreement reached in 2023 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to try to get the country back on track.

Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed in 2022, forcing its government to default on its public debt, then estimated at US$46 billion (C$64.68 billion).

Several weeks of popular protests against shortages and inflation that followed caused the fall of the then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

In exchange for US$2.9 billion in aid from the IMF, his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe has increased taxes and cut public spending.

Against the backdrop of a fragile economic recovery, Mr. Dissanayake has expressed his willingness to renegotiate some of the clauses of this agreement.

The IMF has begun discussions on the “alternative approaches” advocated by Mr. Dissanayake but has also reiterated the need to “protect and develop” the efforts undertaken.