Voting ends in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election that’s key for its new Marxist-leaning president

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankans voted in a parliamentary election Thursday that is key for the country’s new, Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party’s power and follow through on promises of economic recovery.

Voting ended at 4 p.m. local time with more than 17 million people eligible to vote. Details on the voter turnout were not immediately available.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidential election on Sept. 21 in a victory that marked a rejection of the traditional political parties, which have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948.

However, Dissanayake’s failure to secure more than 50% of the vote has fueled concerns over his party’s outlook in Thursday’s election.

His National People’s Power party must increase its votes significantly — from the 42% it won in the presidential election — if it is to acquire a minimum of 113 seats to take control of the 225-member Parliament.

The biggest challenge for the NPP — which was founded in 2019 and is a relative newcomer on Sri Lanka’s political scene — is that many of its candidates are new faces in politics running against well-established politicians from the traditional parties.

After casting his vote, Dissanayake called on voters to give his party a strong mandate to implement his programs.

Of the 225 parliament seats, 196 are up for grabs under Sri Lanka’s proportional representative electoral system, which allocates seats in each district among the parties according to the proportion of the votes they get.

The remaining 29 seats — called the national list seats — are allocated to parties and independent groups according to the proportion of the total votes they receive countrywide.

There are 8,821 candidates vying for the 196 seats for elected members of Parliament.

Sajith Premadasa, who came in second in the presidential election and his Samagi Jana Balawegaya, or United People’s Power party, is NPP’s main competition.

Dissanayake, while campaigning for his party’s candidates, has called on voters to help elect them to Parliament so he won’t need to rely on a coalition to enact the reforms he promised.

Election results are expected on Friday.

The election comes at a decisive time for Sri Lankans, as the island nation is struggling to emerge from its worst economic crisis, having declared bankruptcy after defaulting on its external debt in 2022.

The country is now in the middle of a bailout program with the International Monetary Fund and debt restructuring with international creditors nearly complete.

Dissanayake had said during the presidential campaign that he planned to propose significant changes to the targets set in the IMF deal, which his predecessor Ranil Wickremesinghe signed, saying it placed too much burden on the people. However, he has since changed his stance and says Sri Lanka will go along with the agreement.

Sri Lanka’s crisis was largely the result of economic mismanagement combined with fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, which along with 2019 terrorism attacks devastated its important tourism industry. The pandemic also disrupted the flow of remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad.

The government also slashed taxes in 2019, depleting the treasury just as the virus hit. Foreign exchange reserves plummeted, leaving Sri Lanka unable to pay for imports or defend its currency, the rupee.

Sri Lanka’s economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022. Parliament then elected Wickremesinghe to replace him.

The economy was stabilized, inflation dropped, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased under Wickremesinghe. Nonetheless, he lost the election as public dissatisfaction grew over the government’s effort to increase revenue by raising electricity bills and imposing heavy new income taxes on professionals and businesses, as part of the government’s efforts to meet the IMF conditions.

Dissanayake’s promise to punish members of previous governments accused of corruption and to recover allegedly stolen assets has also raised much hope among the people.

Krishan Francis, The Associated Press