Campaign for Free and Fair Election defended the proposed electoral system, stating that it will not be disadvantageous to the minor parties.
Releasing a statement on Friday, CaFFE Executive Director Keerthi Tennakoon said that the minor parties would not be deprived of its representation. CaFFE arrived at this conclusion after calculating the number of seats each party would get if the 2010 General Election and 2004 General Election were conducted under the proposed system.
These calculations show that the percentage of seats won by each party would have remained the same in both elections if the elections were held under the new system.
Meanwhile, CaFFE added that since the national list is also increased, minor parties could get an added advantage.
|
2010 |
Current |
New |
|||
|
Seats |
% |
Seats |
% |
Difference |
|
|
United People’s Freedom Alliance |
144 |
64% |
163 |
64% |
19 |
|
United National Party |
60 |
27% |
69 |
27% |
9 |
|
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna |
7 |
3% |
8 |
3% |
1 |
|
Tamil National Alliance |
14 |
6% |
15 |
6% |
1 |
|
Total |
225 |
100% |
255 |
100% |
30 |
|
|
|||||
|
2004 |
According to the current system |
According to the proposed system |
|||
|
|
Seats |
% |
Seats |
% |
Change |
|
UPFA |
105 |
47% |
119 |
47% |
14 |
|
UNP |
82 |
36% |
94 |
37% |
12 |
|
ITAK/ TULF |
22 |
10% |
24 |
9% |
2 |
|
SLMC/ NUA |
5 |
2% |
5 |
2% |
0 |
|
JHU |
9 |
4% |
11 |
4% |
2 |
|
EPDP |
1 |
0% |
1 |
0% |
0 |
|
UPPFA |
1 |
0% |
1 |
0% |
0 |
|
Total |
225 |
100% |
255 |
100% |
30 |
|
Majority |
-8 |
-9 |
|||
