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A third of MPs from previous House not voted back
Sri Lankan political giants such as Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the current leader of the United National Party (UNP), with a parliamentary career that started 42 years ago, failed to secure seats in the Colombo district. He was the most prominent of the 74 MPs who lost their seats, most of them from the UNP and also other parties.
Chandrani Bandara
Hirunika Premachandra
Former Minister and UNP’s assistant leader Ravi Kaunanayake, was also unable to win from the Colombo district. Also defeated in the Colombo district was another prominent UNP candidate, Daya Gamage, who was previously in Parliament, with his wife Anoma Gamage also being an MP. She also lost though she contested from the Digamadulle district.
Long standing politician A.H.M. Fowzie who contested from the Sajith Premadasa-led Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in the Colombo District, charged that the election was run on communal lines.
“The racism angle was exploited, it was the same game they played during the presidential election,” Mr. Fowzie said, adding that he lost because he did not have an electorate.
“I would have got anything between 25,000-30,000 votes if I had an electorate,” he said.
Mr. Fowzie had risen from municipal politics to provincial politics and then to national politics in a career of more than 60 years.
“My plan is to continue working for the poor people in and outside of Colombo,” he pledged.
Hirunika Premachandra, who also contested in Colombo from the SJB, failed to win a seat in the new parliament. Daughter of veteran Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) politician Lakshman Premachandra, Hirunika entered politics after the death of her father. She shifted from the SLFP to the UNP in 2015 for the Yahapalana Government and then switched over to the SJB for the general election last Wednesday.
Outspoken politician Sujeewa Senasinghe also failed to win a seat, while the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP)’s well known Thilanga Sumathipala was also unable to win a seat.
Akila Viraj Kariyawasam
A.H.M. Fowzie
The SLPP’s Duleep Wijesekera, the UNP’s Ajith Manapperuma, Vijith Wijayamuni Zoysa, Edward Gunasekera and Chathura Senaratne, son of Minister Rajitha Senaratne, all previous parliamentarians also failed to win seats in the Gampaha District.
Sri Lanka’s World Cup winning cricket captain Arjuna Ranatunga, who entered Spolitics in 2005 and contested from the UNP in Gampaha, also failed to make it. The UNP’s Ruwan Wijewardene, a former Minister of State for Defence, also could not win a seat in the Gampaha District.
The SJB’s Ajith P. Perera and the UNP’s Lakshman Wijemanne were also among the prominent politicians who could not win a seat in the Kalutara district.
The UNP’s Kalutara district candidate Palitha Thewarapperuma was skeptical about the decision to begin counting on August 6, the day after the election.
“They blamed it on COVID-19 and opened the ballot boxes the next day, because I believe something fishy was being done,” he claimed.
According to Mr. Thewarapperuma, the Gulawita polling station recorded 606 votes when the boxes were being closed, but when they were opened the next day, there were only 451 votes.
“What happened to the other votes? They were counted five times,” he claimed.
Mr Thewarapperuma said he believed fraud had taken place as the SLPP Government had not done enough during its tenure to win the way that it has, he charged. The Government did not give the special COVID-19 allowance of Rs. 5000 to some people, failed to repatriate Sri Lankans stuck abroad and failed to take effective measures to fight climate change.
“How could they possibly have such a big majority in provinces other than the north east. I have stood for education rights and the rights of the people. During COVID-19 when some politicians did little or nothing, I was with the people. The people often complain about the 225 in Parliament calling most of them rogues, and then they vote for the same rogues,” he said.
Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB) Kalutara District candidate Nalinda Jayatisssa, sarcastically said an intelligent people have made an intelligent choice.
Thilanga Sumathipala
Mavai Senathirajah
Arjuna Ranatunga
He believed that the people had chosen a Parliament that reflects the President’s view points and approach.
“I hope that the President will develop the country, rid the country of it’s mafia and honour the choice made by 6.9 Mn voters,” he said.
Dr Jayatissa also sarcastically said he was happy the parliament did not have people who indulged in ethanol or heroin smuggling.
Wishing Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardene the very best in providing the people of Kalutara with whatever it was they were missing, Dr Jayatissa said, “As for my future I will not be continuing my work as a Parliamentarian, we will wait and see what the future holds. My life was not dependent on my Parliamentary work. As you know we did not work for a wage. We lived for the people, but if the people do not want to give us an opportunity there is nothing we can do.”
Ananda Kumarasiri Monaragala UNP candidate and former Deputy Speaker expressed disgust over the political habits of the country.
“The politics in this country is such that if you can provide alcohol and money people will vote for you. Your policies don’t matter. I am disgusted,” he added.
Involved in politics since 1986, Mr. Kumarasiri has decided to take a step back and reconsider his future in politics.
In the Monaragala electorate SLPP candidates Padma Udaya Shantha Gunasekara and Sumedha G. Jayasena also lost their seats in Parliament.
Wijayakala Maheswaran, the only UNP Member of Parliament from the North, functioned as state minister of education in the Yahapalana Government. She was unable to win in her electorate in Jaffna district.
The UNP’s Vajira Abeywardene and the SJB’s Wijepala Hettiarachchi, Badula Bandarigoda and Piyasena Gamage were also unable to obtain seats in the Galle district.
Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene, whose political career began in 1973 in the UNP Youth Council, contested from the Matara District on the SLPP ticket alongside Manoj Sirisena and Niroshan Premaratne, all of whom were unsuccessful in obtaining sufficient votes to enter Parliament. The JJB’s front-liner and COPE’s former chairman Sunil Handunetti, also lost his seat in Matara district, although most parties have commended his role in the parliamentary committee on Public Enterprise. Mr Hadunetti was widely acclaimed for his role in exposing bribery and corruption, especially the bond scams at the Central Bank.
Former UNP front-liner Gamini Dissanayake’s son Navin, who contested from the UNP in the Nuwara Eliya district, also lost his seat in Parliament. Navin Dissanayake is also the UNP’s National Organise, and caused a storm recently when he claimed leadership of the party.
Nihal Galappaththi (JJB), S.B. Navinna (SLPP), Tharanath Basnayake (SLPP), T.B. Ekanayake (SLPP) and Indika Bandaranayake (SJB) also lost their seats in Hambantota and Kurunegala districts. Another significant ousting was that of the UNP’s General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam. He was the Minister of Education in the former Government, but failed to get a seat from the Kurunegala district, though he won a seat in the two previous parliaments.
Palitha Range Bandara (UNP), Shantha Abeysekera (SJB), Weerakumara Dissanayake (SLPP), S.A. Muthukumaran (SLPP), P. Harrison (SJB) and Chandima Gamage (SJB) also lost their seats in parliament. Chandrani Bandara, daughter of Former Minister Chandra Bandara and member of the last two parliaments also contested from the SJB in Anuradhapura district but could not win a seat. Sydney Jayaratne, Lakshman Seneviratne, Ravi Samaraweera and Thusitha Wijemanne along with brothers Wasantha Aluwihare and Ranjith Aluwihare of the SJB were also voted out.
The UNP’s Nalaka Colonne, K.K. Piyadasa and Sandith Samarasinghe also lost their seats in parliament.
Members of the SLPP and former parliamentarians Lakshman Wasantha Perera, Dunesh Gankanda and Susantha Punchinilame have also failed to secure enough votes to enter parliament. The SJB’s Karunarathna Paranawithana, A.A.Wijetunge and A.M. Maharoof were also voted out. S.Yoheswaran and Gnanamuthu Srineshan of the TNA, Ali Zahir Moulana of the SLMC, Ameer Ali of the ACMC, Mavai Senathirajah and E. Saravanabavan of the ITAK also lost their seats in Parliament.
The SLPP’s Ananda Aluthgamage, Lucky Jayawardena and Shriyani Wijewickrama were also defeated. The ITAK’s S. Sivamohan and Kaveenthiran Kodeeswaran, The TMTK’s Shivasakthy Ananthan and the SJB’s Sisira Kumara Abeysekara were also thrown out of Parliament.