In Sri Lanka, the presidential camp is well ahead of the legislative elections, according to partial results

The first left-wing president in the history of Sri Lanka, elected in September, won the legislative elections hands down on Friday, November 15, winning an absolute majority which gives him a free hand to reform the country, in economic crisis.

The National People's Power (NPP), led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, dominated the election with 63% of the vote, according to partial results released by the Electoral Commission and covering more than half of the votes.

The left-wing NPP coalition, led by the president's party, the People's Liberation Front (or JVP, for Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in Sinhalese, of Marxist inspiration), obtained at least 123 of the 225 seats to be filled, which will allow it to initiate its reform program, while it only had three of the 225 seats in the outgoing Parliament.

A Marxist by training but widely converted to the market economy since then, Mr. Dissanayake, 55, was elected in September at the head of a country exhausted by the worst economic crisis in its history and a brutal austerity cure. His promises to reduce taxes on basic necessities and eradicate corruption have ensured him broad support from voters.

“We believe that this election is crucial and will mark a turning point for the country”Mr. Dissanayake told the press while voting in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo. “The NPP expects from this election a clear mandate and a strong majority in Parliament”he added.

An early vote without major incident

Supervised by more than 80,000 police officers, the early voting took place without major incident. The counting of the votes of the 17 million registered voters began on Thursday as soon as the polling stations closed, at 4 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. in Paris).

All analysts predicted a large victory for the presidential camp in the face of divided adversaries. “The opposition is dead”estimated analyst Kusal Perera. “The result of the vote is a closed case: the NPP will form the next government. »

Even if her party retained the communist hammer and sickle as its emblem, Anura Kumara Dissanayake campaigned with the unexpected support of economic circles. Once worried, business leaders and businessmen were reassured by his decision not to throw away the agreement reached in 2023 with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to try to get the country back on track.

Sri Lanka's economy collapsed in 2022, forcing its government to default on its public debt, then estimated at $46 billion (€42 billion). The weeks of popular protests against shortages and inflation that followed caused the fall of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July 2022. In exchange for aid of 2.9 billion dollars (2.6 billion euros) from the IMF, his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, increased tax increases and cuts in public spending.

Against a backdrop of fragile economic improvement, Mr. Dissanayake expressed his desire to renegotiate some of the clauses of this agreement. The IMF has started discussions on “alternative approaches” defended by Mr. Dissanayake but also recalled the need to “protect and develop” the efforts made.