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The landslide victory of the National Peoples Power (NPP) at Thursday’s parliamentary elections no doubt took the whole country by surprise. Not that an NPP victory was ever in doubt except that the extent of confidence reposed in the NPP by returning 159 of its members to Parliament would have hardly been expected by even its diehard supporters.

In the run up to the elections, while analysts were discussing whether the NPP would be able to muster a simple majority of at least 113 seats,  President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and some of his senior colleagues urged the people to return a strong parliament to enable the government to implement its policies. 

One of the striking features of the NPPs campaign was that they did not ask the people for a two third majority. The inherent dangers and the increased responsibility that comes from such a majority for a government was not lost on the NPP leadership.

In fact at a press conference after the outcome of the elections had become clear on Friday, the General Secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Tilvin Silva highlighted the responsibility that came from such a huge mandate.

While pledging that this power would be wielded in a responsible manner, Mr. Silva stated that they understood the depth and weight of such a mandate.

“We are inheriting a country burdened by debt, economic ruin, and a tarnished international reputation. This is a mandate for hope, for rebuilding, and for change,” he said.

One of the most significant features of the voting patterns seen at the elections, was the support extended by all communities to the new government. The NPP secured victory in the Jaffna and Vanni districts, as well as in Digamadulla and Trincomalee in the Eastern Province. The party also swept through districts with significant populations of hill-country communities, including Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, and Ratnapura.

The JVP General Secretary was quick to recognise the significance of the support extended to the NPP across all communities. This is a profound victory of trust, understanding, and unity, thank you, North, for believing in us,” he said, adding that the victory in Jaffna was far greater than securing 159 seats in Parliament.

“This is not just a victory; it is a unification of all Sri Lankan people,” Mr. Silva said. “For the first time, the people of the north, east, and south have come together, setting aside racial and religious divisions. This is a rejection of old politics based on racism,” Mr. Silva noted.

Indeed one cannot quarrel with his characterisation of the mandate as a rejection of politics based on racism when one compares the situation that existed in the country after the victory of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in 2019.

The NPPs campaign at both the presidential election and at the parliamentary elections was based on equality, non discrimination and devoid of religious or racial hatred to which the county responded positively.

In contrast the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2019 and 2020, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s campaign was based on a platform of religious and racial hate and alleged threats to national security from the minorities.

In his campaign Gotabaya Rajapaksa was assisted by the likes of Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Professor Channa Jayasumana, Sarath Weerasekera, Ven. Athureliya Thera, Ven. Galagodathe Gnanasara Thera (Bodu Bala Sena), several others from the Viyath Maga including M.U. M. Ali Sabry who presented Rajapaksa to the voters as having the characteristics of Lee Kwan Yew and Mahatir Mohamed.

A description of the mandate given to the NPP as a unification of the nation is therefore valid when compared to the Gotabaya Rajapaksa/ NPP mandate which was the outcome of a campaign based on division and polarisation.

What is equally significant in the results of last week’s election is that the message of national unity espoused by the NPP was not limited to the exhortations of its leaders but also filtered down to their supporters as reflected in the preferential votes that were cast. Muneer Mulaffer, a Muslim religious leader on the NPP list in the Gampaha District polled over 100,000 preferences which figure could only have been achieved by a substantial number of Sinhala voters casting their preference in his favour. The same would be the case in the Matara district in the Sinhala heartland where a Tamil Lady on the NPP list Mrs Paulraj polled around 150,000 preferences which could not have been achieved without the support of a significant number of Sinhala votes.

Shades of the times in the past when individuals like M. L.M Aboosally would win Balangoda, a predominantly Sinhala Buddhist electorate. There were other such individuals in the past, too numerous to mention, who succeeded in winning the confidence of communities other than their own in order to be returned to Parliament.

While a detailed analysis of the why and wherefore of the resounding NPP victory will have to await emergence of further details, it would be useful at this point to flag a few self evident aspects of the outcome of the Elections:

the vote amounted to a referendum and a verdict on the misdeeds of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Presidency including its mismanagement of the economy that led to the country being declared bankrupt

the vote also constituted a negative verdict of the Ranil Wickremesinghe government’s administration which was viewed as an extension of his predecessor’s dispensation by virtue of his association with the SLPP Ministers and, although resulting in the doing away of queues, was not sufficient to ease the common man’s suffering due to the burden of a high cost of living, high electricity tariffs, high taxation such as Pay as You Earn etc. This is further reflected by the fact that all ministers in his Cabinet, bar one, were defeated at the elections.

the public servants as, evidenced by the postal votes, were more prepared to trust the NPP administration with regard to possible salary increases and tax relief despite the criticisms levelled against the President by the Ranil Wickremesinghe government

it also amounted to a rejection of the criticism by opponents of the NPP Government that the President had not done enough to fulfil the pledges made to the people within the seven weeks he was in office

the results also revealed that the peoples’ trust in the President and the NPP had increased in the past seven weeks since the presidential election. This could be due to their unostentatious style of governance, the early signs of changing the political culture through the example of their leaders, the non abuse of state resources in the election campaign among other factors. This has undoubtedly contributed to the increase in the NPPs vote by nearly 1.3 million in the seven weeks since the President assumed office

the strong mandate has also strengthened the hands of the President and the Government in its negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (javidyusuf@gmail.com)