General Election 2015

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe Calls For Buddhist Approach: Nikkei

August 20, 2015

Re-elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said that a consensus among Sri Lankan political parties and civil society will be needed to take his policies forward after he officially resumes office in September.

"We want everyone to come out, think for the country, think for the people," he told reporters in his first press conference since his United National Party (UNP) won the highest number of seats in Monday's poll. "We can achieve unity in this country if we work together."

With slightly fewer than the 113 seats needed for a simple majority in the 225-member assembly, the UNP is expected to bring smaller parties into a coalition.

The UNP has ruled from a parliamentary minority since January, when President Maithripala Sirisena unexpectedly became president after defeating is predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Although both Sirisena and Rajapaksa belong to the United People's Freedom Alliance (UFPA), they have become political foes. Indeed, Sirisena's defeat of Rajapaksa in January was helped by the rival UNP.

Rajapaksa, who was first elected president in 2005, called a snap presidential election in January after pushing through constitutional amendments to enable him to run for a third term in office.

Having lost the presidency, Rajapaksa has now also failed in his bid to become prime minister, with UFPA as the main runner-up this week.

Wickremasinghe, 66, hopes to restore friendly relations across party lines, and promote a culture devoid of "divisive politics". After conferring with President Sirisena, the prime minister will present his policies to parliament on Sept. 1.

He has meanwhile invoked the ancient Buddhist Lichhavi approach which advocates dialogue and discussion among all stakeholders to achieve consensus and peaceful co-existence.

Asked if such a spirit of reconciliation extended to Rajapaksa, his former mentor and main political rival, Wickremasinghe said, "It includes everyone."

Rajapaksa defeated Tamil separatists in 2009, bringing an end to a bloody 26-year civil war with the Sinhala majority. Although Tamil votes may have weighed against UFPA's fortunes, Rajapaksa personally secured 423,529 preferential votes, the largest number for any candidate, to secure his place in parliament.

Defeated twice in a year at the ballot box, and out of office, Rajapaksa remains a significant force as Sri Lanka's new leader of the opposition.

(Nikkei Asian Review)

TNA To Back UNP: Sampanthan

August 20, 2015

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will support the United National Party (UNP), The Hindu reported, quoting its leader R. Sampanthan.

“In the process, we also expect resolution to the national question in a manner acceptable to all people,” TNA leader R. Sampanthan told The Hindu.

Meanwhile, Sampantha argued that the verdict of people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces had demonstrated “beyond question” that the TNA was “the true representative of Tamils.”

The UNP emerged as the single largest party in Monday’s Parliament election in Sri Lanka, winning 106 out of the 225 seats. The TNA won 14 seats.

EU Observers Give Thumps Up To Lankan Parliamentary Polls

August 20, 2015

EU observers have given a thumbs up to the recent parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, saying the polls were well administered but noted that campaign expenditure was exorbitant with some candidates spending over 5 lakh dollars.

The European Union deployed an Election Observation Mission to monitor the parliamentary elections on the invitation of the Commissioner of Elections of Sri Lanka.

The polling and counting procedures were assessed overwhelmingly positively by EU observers.

They said the August 17 parliamentary election was well administered and offered voters a genuine choice from among a broad range of political alternatives.

However, the interlocutors said the campaign was very costly with some candidates spending above 500,000 Euro (USD 551,876).

As Party and campaign finance are not regulated, there are no requirements regarding campaign spending limits or disclosure of donations and expenditures.

Despite overly restrictive rules which curbed freedom of campaigning not allowing candidates to engage in door-to-door campaigning, to canvass in person or distribute leaflets or posters, candidates and party activists campaigned vigorously, focusing on small meetings with voters.

Although the campaign was assessed by stakeholders as largely peaceful, incidents involving firearms resulted in several deaths, and there were numerous cases of assault and arson.

The major incidents, however, appeared to be isolated and did not lead to an escalation of violence.

There were also isolated reports of limitations to campaign freedom in the Tamil-dominated Northern province.

Despite the lack of legal provisions regarding domestic observation, civil society organisations carried out large-scale monitoring of misuse of public resources, campaign violations, voter education programmes and polling and counting observation and deployed some 20,000 observers on Election Day.

The mission is headed by Cristian Preda, Member of the European Parliament (Romania), and comprises 85 observers from 28 EU-member states, as well as from Switzerland and Norway, including a delegation of 6 members of European Parliament.

Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) coalition won 106 seats in the election, just 7 short of a simple majority in the 225-member assembly but enough to form a government.

(PTI)

Preferential Votes Of Winning Candidates (COMPLETE LIST)

August 19, 2015

The 2015 General Election saw the election of 196 MPs through direct preferential votes.

There will be 93 UNP MPs and 83 UPFA MPs elected directly from 22 Electoral Districts.. Furthermore there were 14 TNA MPs, 4 JVP MPs and one MP each from EPDP and SLMC.

The full list is given below

Colombo District

UNP

1. Ranil Wickremesinghe

500,566

2. Sujeewa Senasinghe

117,049

3. Harsha de Silva

114,148

4. Ravi Karunanayake

111,394

5. Patali Champika Ranawaka

100,444

6. S.M. Marikkar

92,526

7. Mujibar Rahuman

83,884

8. Eran Wickremaratne

82,738

9. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe

81,758

10. Hirunika Premachandra

70,584

11. Mano Ganesan

69,064

UPFA

1. Wimal Weerawansa

313,801

2. Udaya Gammanpila

198,818

3. Susil Premajayantha

174,075

4. Dinesh Gunawardena

124,451

5. Bandula Gunawardena

96,057

6. Mohan Lal Grero

65,703

7. Gamini Lokuge

58,527

JVP

1. Anura Kumara Dissanayake

65,966

Gampaha District

UNP

1. Ranjan Ramanayake

216,463

2. Arjuna Ranatunga

165,890

3. Ruwan Wijewardena

157,932

4. Harshana Rajakaruna

122,455

5. Ajith Mannapperuma

113,889

6. John Amaratunga

83,070

7. Kavinda Jayawardena

81,383

8. Chatura Senaratne

71,243

9. Edward Gunawardena

65,874

UPFA

1. Prasanna Ranatunga

384,448

2.P. Ranaweera

112,395

3. Nimal Lanza

94,375

4. Sisira Jayakody

90,749

5. Indika Anuruddha

78,109

6. Sudarshani Fernandopulle

73,553

7. Dulip Wijesekara

58,936

8. Lasantha Alagiyawanna

57,950

JVP

1. Vijitha Herath

55,299

Kurunegala District

UPFA

1. Mahinda Rajapaksa

423,529

2.Dayasiri Jayasekara

133,532

3. T.B. Ekanayake

82,789

4. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa

77,057

5. Johnston Fernando

66,960

6. Salinda Dissanayake

54,318

7. Indika Bandaranayake

46,356

8. Tharanath Basnayake

43,020

UNP

1. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam

286,755

2. J.C. Alawathuwala

106,061

3. Gamini Jayawickrama Perera

83,346

4. Nalin Bandara

80,063

5. S.B. Nawinne

76,714

6. Ashok Abeysinghe

73,184

7. T. Indunil

64,359

Kalutara District

UPFA

1. Kumara Welgama

218,614

2. Rohitha Abeygunawardena

127,040

3. Jayantha Samaraweera

101,039

4. Vidura Wickramanayake

90,488

5. Piyal Nishantha

71,428

UNP

1. Rajitha Senaratne

142,186

2. Ajith P. Perera

131,383

3. Palitha Thevarapperuma

118,128

4. L. Wijemanna

58,119

JVP

1. Nalinda Jayatissa

24,855

Matale District

UNP

1. Vasantha Aluvihare

75,926

2. R. Aluvihare

74,785

3. R. Kaviratne

41,766

UPFA

1. Lakshman Wasantha Perera

79,309

2. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon

61,920

Hambantota District

UPFA

1. Namal Rajapaksa

127,201

2. Mahinda Amaraweera

84,516

3. Chamal Rajapaksa

80,621

4. D V Chanaka

51,939

UNP

1. Sajith Premadasa

112,645

2. Dilip Wedaarachchi

65,391

JVP

1. Nihal Galappatti

12,162

Polonnaruwa District

UNP

1. Vasantha Senanayake

75,651

2. Nalaka Kolonne

70,107

3. Sidny Jayaratne

41,295

UPFA

1. Roshan Ranasinghe

76,825

2. Sirisena Gamlath

63,909

Badulla District

UNP

1. Harin Fernando

200,806

2. Ravindra Samaraweera

58,507

3. Chaminda Wijesiri

58,291

4. Aravinda Kumar

53,741

5. Vadivel Suresh

52,318

UPFA

1. Nimal Siripala de Silva

134,406

2. Chamara Sampath

64,418

3. Thenuka Vidanagamage

43,517

Moneragala District

UPFA

1. Vijitha Berugoda

74,313

2. Sumedha G. Jayasena

69, 082

3. U. Gunasekara

57,356

UNP

1. Ranjith Maddumabandara

82,316

2. Ananda Kumarasiri

44,007

Trincomalee District

UNP

1. M. Abdulla

35,456

2. Imran Maharoof

32,582

UPFA

1. Susantha Punchinilame

19,953

ITAK

1. R. Sampanthan

19,953

Matara District

UPFA

1. Dallas Alahapperuma

105,406

2. Niroshan Premaratne

99,762

3. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena

97,918

4. Kanchana Wijesekara

83,278

5. Chandrasiri Gajadheera

54,251

UNP

1. Buddhika Pathirana

98,815

2. Mangala Samaraweera

96,092

3. Sagala Rathnayake

85,771

Jaffna District

ITAK

1. S. Sritharan

72,058

2. Mavai Senathiraja

58,782

3. M.A. Sumanthiran

58,043

4. D. Siddharthan

53,740

5. E. Sarawanabhavan

43,289

UNP

1. Vijayakala Maheswaran

13,071

EPDP

1. Douglas Devananda

16,399

Galle District

UPFA

1. Chandima Weerakkodi

114,851

2. Ramesh Pathirana

105,434

3. Nishantha Muthuhettigama

75,994

4. Manusha Nanayakkara

73,387

5. Geetha Kumarasinghe

63,955

6. Mohan P. de Silva

53,076

UNP

1. Gayantha Karunathilaka

149,573

2. Vajira Abeywardena

142,874

3. B. Bandarigoda

66,970

4. Vijepala Hettiarachchi

53,413

Mahanuwara District

UNP

1. Lakshman Kiriella

199,046

2. Mayantha Dissanayake

111,190

3. Rauff Hakeem

102,186

4. M.H.A. Haleem

111,011

5. Lucky Jayawardena

67,461

6. Velu Kumar

62,556

7. A. Ananda

56,625

UPFA

1. Lohan Ratwatte

129,750

2. Mahindananda Aluthgamage

123,393

3. Dilum Amunugama

104,469

4. Anuradha Jayaratne

93,567

5. Keheliya Rambukwella

65,587

Puttalam District

UNP

1. Palitha Range Bandara

66,960

2. Niroshan Perera

59,337

3. Hector Appuhami

55,475

4. S. Abeysekara

36,390

5. A. Priyantha

35,418

UPFA

1. Sanath Nishantha

68,240

2. Priyankara Jayaratne

59,352

3. Arundika Fernando

47,118

Ratnapura District

UPFA

1. Premalal Jayasekara

154,988

2. W.D.J Seneviratne

90,472

3. Pavithra Wanniarachchi

87,660

4. Vasudeva Nanayakkara

81,068

5. Janaka Wakkumbura

69,014

6. Ranjith Soysa

63,071

UNP

1. Thalatha Athukorala

145,868

2. Dunesh Gankanda

92,804

3. H Vithanage

67,846

4. A A Wijetunga

48,665

5. Karunaratne Paranawithana

47,258

Kegalle District

UNP

1. Kabir Hashim

109,030

2. Sajith Sanjaya

53,218

3. Thusitha Wijemanne

50,893

4. Champika Premadasa

50,695

5. Ranjith Samarasinghe

49,442

UPFA

1. Kanaka Herath

95,807

2. Tharaka Balasuriya

73,404

3. D. Mithrapala

64,836

4. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya

62,098

Digamadulla District

UNP

1. Daya Gamage

68,201

2. M K M Faizal

61,401

1. H. M. M. Hareez

59,433

4. I.M.M Mansur

58,536

UPFA

1. Wimalaweera Dissanayake

53,537

2. Sriyani Wijewickrama

49,691

TNA

1. Kavindan Koneswaram

17,779

Nuwara Eliya District

UNP

1. P. Digambaran

105,528

2. V. Rathakrishnan

87,375

3. M. Thilakaraja

67,761

4. Navin Dissanayake

66,716

5. K.K. Piyadara

48,365

UPFA

1. Arumugam Thondaman

61,897

2. C.B. Rathnayake

45,649

3. Muthu Sivalingam

45,352

Anuradhapura District

UPFA

1. S.M. Chandrasena

118,234

2. Weerakumara Dissanayake

69,489

3. Shehan Semasinghe

64,865

4. Duminda Dissanayake

60,071

5. H.V. Muthukumara

54,460

UNP

1. P. Harison

113,346

2. Chandrani Bandara

83,666

3. Chandima Gamage

50,112

4. A.I. Rahuman

44,626

Batticaloa District

ITAK

1. Gnanamuttu Sri Nesan

48,221

2. Sathasivam Wijendran

39,321

3. Sinnathambi Yogeshwaran

34,039

SLMC

1. Ali Zahir Moulana

16,385

UNP

1. Ameer Ali

16,611

China Applauds Peaceful Parliamentary Elections In Sri Lanka

August 19, 2015

China's Foreign Ministry applauded the peaceful and smooth parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka on Wednesday, offering congratulations on the results of the elections, China's state-run Xinhua said.

China believes that Sri Lanka will make greater achievements in economic, social development under the leadership of the new government, spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.

The ruling United National Front (UNF), led by Ranil Wickremesinghe, secured a clean win over the opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the parliamentary polls held in the island nation on Monday.

Hailing time-tested friendship between the two countries, Hua said that China is willing to enhance mutual beneficial cooperation with Sri Lanka to push forward bilateral strategic partnership.

Friendly China-Sri Lanka cooperation is a common demand from the two peoples, the spokesperson also said.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

Sri Lankan Election Results: Opportunity To Solve Tamils' Issues, Karunanidhi Says

August 19, 2015

DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said the results of the Sri Lankan parliamentary elections have shown that there is an opportunity for finding a permanent solution to the issues faced by Tamils in that country.

A day after the results were released, Karunanidhi said since the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had secured 14 seats and was the third largest party in the parliament, there was a good opportunity for settlement of the Tamils' issue.

"Let us hope at least after the new parliament is formed there is a permanent solution to issues faced by the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. I congratulate Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The result is a turning point in the Sri Lankan politics. While Ranil has secured 45.7% of the popular vote, Mahinda Rajapaksa has secured 42.4% and the balance by TNA and others," said Karunanidhi.

President Maithripala Sirisena has promised to bring amendments to the constitution by which the country will change to a parliamentary form of democracy from a presidential form.

"In this situation, the number of seats secured by TNA will influence the decisions taken by the new prime minister, and this is a good time for the Tamils to take forward their long-pending demands," Karunanidhi said.

(Times of India)

Over 30 Former MPs Fail To Win Seats At 2015 General Election

August 19, 2015

More than 30 parliamentarians from several parties lost their seats in the 2015 General Election held on August 17. They include a number of former ministers and other prominent politicians.

Former Minister S.B. Dissanayake, who represented the former parliament from Kandy, was a prominent loser in the election. Eric Weerawardhana and Abdul Kader have also lost their seats from Kandy District.

Nandimithra Ekanayake and Rohana Dissanayake from Matale District also lost their seats. Meanwhile Renuka Herath and P. Rajathurai of Nuwara Eliya District also failed to enter parliament.

Deputy Minister Shantha Bandara lost his seat in Kurunegala along with Jayaratne Herath and Nilwala Wijesinghe from the district. All were from the UPFA. Meanwhile Neomal Perera, Antony Fernando, Dayasritha Tissera and Milroy Fernando have lost from Puttalam District.

Rosy Senanayake and Thilanga Sumathipala are prominent losers from the Colombo District under the UNP and the UPFA tickets respectively. Meanwhile Felix Perera, Pandu Bandaranayake, Upeksha Swarnamali and Sarath Kumara Gunaratne from Gampaha District have failed to win back their seats.

Former Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe lost his seat from Kaluthara District.

Nirupama Rajapaksa and V.K. Indika lost their seats in Hambantota and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Hemal Gunasekara and Vijaya Dahanayake of Matara District also lost their seats. In Galle District, former UPFA MPs Gunaratne weerakoon and Piyasena Gamage failed to retain their seats.

Tissa Karaliyadda and W.B Ekanayake of Anuradhapura lost their seats along with Chandrasiri Suriyaarachchi and MS Thaufeek (UNP) from Polonnaruwa.

Vijith Vijayamuni Soysa and Jagath Pushpakumara, both former UPFA MPs from Moneragala, lost their seats. Meanwhile, Lakshman Seneviratne, Udith Lokubandara, Chamika Buddhadasa and Rohana Pushpakumara have all lost from Badulla.

Former UPFA MP Sunny Rohana of Ratnapura lost his seat along with Athauda Seneviratne and Lalith Dissanayake, both former UPFA MPs from Kegalle.

Wickremesinghe Fails To Surpass Rajapaksa's Percentage

August 19, 2015

Although Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received more than 500,000 preference votes from Colombo, he failed to surpass the preferential vote percentage of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2015 General Election.

Wickremesinghe received 500,566 preferences while the UNP polled 640,743 votes. Thereby, 78 percent of UNP voters gave one preference to Wickremesinghe. Meanwhile, Rajapaksa received 423,529 preferences while the UPFA polled 474,124 votes. The percentage of UPFA voters who gave a preference vote to Rajapaksa was 89 percent.

UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa managed to obtain the preference of 84 percent of UNP voters in Hambantota. Premadasa gained 112,645 preferences while the UNP polled 134,433 votes.

Prasanna Ranatunga Leads Gampaha Preference Votes

August 19, 2015

Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga of the UPFA led the preference votes in Gampaha District despite his party's loss in the general election in his district. Ranatunga received preferences, nearly 170,000 more than the leading UNP candidate Ranjan Ramanayake.

Prasanna's brother Arjuna Ranatunga came second under the UNP ticket. Ruwan Ranatunga, a third brother who contested from the UPFA failed to be selected to parliament.

UNP

Ranjan Ramanayake 216,463

Arjuna Ranatunga 165,890

Ruwan Wijewardena 157,932

Harshana Rajakaruna 122,455

Ajith Mannapperuma 113,889

John Amaratunga 83,070

Kavinda Jayaratne 81,383

Chatura Senaratne 71,243

Edward Gunasekara 65,874

UPFA

Prasanna Ranatunga 384,448

Prasanna Ranaweera 112,395

Nimal Lanza 94,375

Sisira Jayakody 90,749

Indika Anuruddha 78,109

Sudarshanie Fernandopulle 73,553

Dulip Wijesekara 58,936

Lasantha Alagiyawanna 57,450

JVP

Vijitha Herath 55299

Wickremesinghe Passes 500,000 Preferences From Colombo

August 19, 2015

UNP leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe passed the 500,000 preferential vote mark establishing a new record in Sri Lankan General Elections.

Wickremesinghe received 500,566 preferences while the UNP received 640,743 votes in the district. Therefore, 78 percent of those who voted for the UNP have marked a preference vote for Wickremesinghe.

Colombo is the district with the largest number of registered voters. It send 19 MPs to the parliament. UNP won 11 seats and the UPFA managed to win 7. JVP had to be content with just one seat.

UNP

Ranil Wickremesinghe 500566

Sujeeva Senasinghe 117049

Harsha de Silva 114148

Ravi Karunanayake 111394

Patali Champika Ranawaka 100444

S.M. Marikkar 92,526

Mujibar Rahuman 83,884

Eran Wickremeratne 82,783

Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe 81,758

Hirunika Premachandra 70,584

Mano Ganesan 69,064