RAJAPAKSAS CEMENT GRIP ON POWER AFTER HUGE POLL WIN

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections handed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa an overwhelming majority, results showed on Friday.

Gotabaya had sought, and achieved, a two-thirds majority for his party SLPP and its allies to be able to restore full executive powers to the presidency.

The ruling group won 150 seats in the 225-member parliament, according to a tally published by the election commission.

The two-thirds majority will see Gotabaya’s elder brother and former president Mahinda taking over as the prime minister of the tourism-dependent nation.

Gotabaya said the restoration of full executive powers was necessary to implement his agenda to make the country of 21 million economically and militarily secure.

The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa’s presidency in 2009, ending a 25-year civil war.

“We will ensure (Sri Lanka) will not stand disappointed during our tenure,” Mahinda said.

Currently, significant power is bestowed on the parliament and the prime minister after a previous government led by the opposition had amended the constitution and set up independent commissions to oversee the police and the judiciary among other arms of the government.