Islam Times - Sri Lanka’s Leftist Coalition Wins Snap General Elections

Islam Times - Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leftist coalition has achieved a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections, delivering the self-described Marxist leader a powerful mandate to fight poverty and corruption in the crisis-stricken nation.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka said on Friday that Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) coalition secured a two-thirds majority in parliament, winning 159 of 225 seats, a huge lead on opposition alliance Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), which won 40 seats.

Dissanayake, a 55-year-old veteran politician, was elected president on September 21 with 42 percent of the vote, in a rejection of traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since independence from British rule in 1948, Al Jazeera reported.

His party’s victory on Friday vindicated his decision to immediately call elections and secure parliamentary backing for his plans to combat corruption and recover stolen assets, two years after a financial crash led to months-long shortages of food, fuel and essential medicines.