Thaindian News

Colombo, April 21 (DPA) Sri Lanka’s ruling alliance secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, according to official final results announced Wednesday after a re-vote in two districts.
The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa secured 4.8 million of the votes, or 60.3 percent. The United National Party (UNP) received 2.3 million or 29.3 percent, marking the worst defeat for the opposition since 1977.

The UPFA took 144 of the 225 seats in Parliament, falling six seats short of the two-thirds majority needed to make changes to the constitution.

The UNP led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe won 60 seats.

A Tamil minority party known as the ITAK took 14 seats, with the Marxist Democratic National Alliance winning seven.

The parliamentary elections were held April 8, but the final results awaited a re-vote in two electoral districts due to irregularities.

Of the 14 million registered voters, 8.6 million or 61 percent turned out in the April 8 election, the first since the military defeat of the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May.

Former plantation industries minister DM Jayaratna was sworn in as prime minister before President Rajapaksa Wednesday evening. The new cabinet is to be named Thursday or Friday.

A former Tamil rebel leader, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, who was in the previous UPFA government, has been nominated to Parliament from the ruling UPFA.

Karuna in 2004 broke away from the rebels and helped the government security forces to fight the Tamil militants.

Meanwhile, former army commander General Sarath Fonseka, who was elected to parliament as a candidate of an opposition Marxist party, obtained the Defence Ministry’s clearance to attend the inaugural parliamentary session Thursday.

A military spokesman said that the ministry has informed the parliamentary secretary-general that Fonseka could attend the inaugural session.

Fonseka is facing court martial proceedings on allegations of conspiracy against the government and irregularities in contracting procedures while serving as the commander and is currently in military custody.

He spearheaded the army’s successful operation against the Tamil rebels last year, but later fell out with Rajapaksa and unsuccessfully ran against him in January’s presidential polls.

His party claims the accusations are a vendetta following the fall-out with Rajapaksa.

In the parliamentary elections, Fonseka ran as a candidate of the Democratic National Alliance and has been elected to parliament to represent the capital district of Colombo.