Sri Lanka vote hands Rajapaksa family a bigger slice of control
Sri Lanka People’s Front expands its majority, winning 145 of the 150 seats
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s governing party wonamajorityofSriLanka’s parliamentary seats, the Election Commission announced yesterday, bringing the president a step closer in his quest to amend the constitution and expand his executive power.
The Sri Lanka People’s Front expanded its majority, winning 145 of the 150 seats needed to push through expanded powers for the president and ensure that Rajapaksa’s older brother, Mahinda, will continue as prime minister. The People’s Front is expected to easily form an alliance with another party to secure the extra five seats they need to declare a super majority with the power to amend the constitution.
After Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the presidential election in 2015, the new government passed a constitutional amendment that imposed a two-term limit on the presidency, revoked immunity from prosecution and made presidential appointments subject to parliamentary oversight.
Rights groups now worry that the constitutional amendment Gotabaya Rajapaksa seeks would undo those reforms at a time when the country’s opposition, activists and news media accuse the government of censorship and intensifying intimidation of critics. This week, many voters said they were voting for the stability the Rajapaksas provided rather than the liberties ensured under the chaotic rule of the last government.
“I am confident in the present government,” said M. Kalyanawathi, 72, as she lined up to vote in Piliyandala City. She praised the government for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its clamping down on crime.