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Prime Minister Wickremesinghe Calls For Buddhist Approach: Nikkei

August 20, 2015
Re-elected Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe said that a consensus among Sri Lankan political parties and civil society will be needed to take his policies forward after he officially resumes office in September.
 
"We want everyone to come out, think for the country, think for the people," he told reporters in his first press conference since his United National Party (UNP) won the highest number of seats in Monday's poll. "We can achieve unity in this country if we work together."
 
With slightly fewer than the 113 seats needed for a simple majority in the 225-member assembly, the UNP is expected to bring smaller parties into a coalition.
 
The UNP has ruled from a parliamentary minority since January, when President Maithripala Sirisena unexpectedly became president after defeating is predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
 
Although both Sirisena and Rajapaksa belong to the United People's Freedom Alliance (UFPA), they have become political foes. Indeed, Sirisena's defeat of Rajapaksa in January was helped by the rival UNP.
 
Rajapaksa, who was first elected president in 2005, called a snap presidential election in January after pushing through constitutional amendments to enable him to run for a third term in office.
 
Having lost the presidency, Rajapaksa has now also failed in his bid to become prime minister, with UFPA as the main runner-up this week.
 
Wickremasinghe, 66, hopes to restore friendly relations across party lines, and promote a culture devoid of "divisive politics". After conferring with President Sirisena, the prime minister will present his policies to parliament on Sept. 1.
 
He has meanwhile invoked the ancient Buddhist Lichhavi approach which advocates dialogue and discussion among all stakeholders to achieve consensus and peaceful co-existence.
 
Asked if such a spirit of reconciliation extended to Rajapaksa, his former mentor and main political rival, Wickremasinghe said, "It includes everyone."
 
Rajapaksa defeated Tamil separatists in 2009, bringing an end to a bloody 26-year civil war with the Sinhala majority. Although Tamil votes may have weighed against UFPA's fortunes, Rajapaksa personally secured 423,529 preferential votes, the largest number for any candidate, to secure his place in parliament.
 
Defeated twice in a year at the ballot box, and out of office, Rajapaksa remains a significant force as Sri Lanka's new leader of the opposition.
(Nikkei Asian Review)
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TNA To Back UNP: Sampanthan

August 20, 2015
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will support the United National Party (UNP), The Hindu reported, quoting its leader R. Sampanthan.
 
“In the process, we also expect resolution to the national question in a manner acceptable to all people,” TNA leader R. Sampanthan told The Hindu.
 
Meanwhile, Sampantha argued that the verdict of people in the Northern and Eastern Provinces had demonstrated “beyond question” that the TNA was “the true representative of Tamils.”
 
The UNP emerged as the single largest party in Monday’s Parliament election in Sri Lanka, winning 106 out of the 225 seats. The TNA won 14 seats.
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EU Observers Give Thumps Up To Lankan Parliamentary Polls

August 20, 2015
EU observers have given a thumbs up to the recent parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, saying the polls were well administered but noted that campaign expenditure was exorbitant with some candidates spending over 5 lakh dollars.
 
The European Union deployed an Election Observation Mission to monitor the parliamentary elections on the invitation of the Commissioner of Elections of Sri Lanka.
 
The polling and counting procedures were assessed overwhelmingly positively by EU observers.
 
They said the August 17 parliamentary election was well administered and offered voters a genuine choice from among a broad range of political alternatives.
 
However, the interlocutors said the campaign was very costly with some candidates spending above 500,000 Euro (USD 551,876).
 
As Party and campaign finance are not regulated, there are no requirements regarding campaign spending limits or disclosure of donations and expenditures.
 
Despite overly restrictive rules which curbed freedom of campaigning not allowing candidates to engage in door-to-door campaigning, to canvass in person or distribute leaflets or posters, candidates and party activists campaigned vigorously, focusing on small meetings with voters.
 
Although the campaign was assessed by stakeholders as largely peaceful, incidents involving firearms resulted in several deaths, and there were numerous cases of assault and arson.
 
The major incidents, however, appeared to be isolated and did not lead to an escalation of violence.
 
There were also isolated reports of limitations to campaign freedom in the Tamil-dominated Northern province.
 
Despite the lack of legal provisions regarding domestic observation, civil society organisations carried out large-scale monitoring of misuse of public resources, campaign violations, voter education programmes and polling and counting observation and deployed some 20,000 observers on Election Day.
 
The mission is headed by Cristian Preda, Member of the European Parliament (Romania), and comprises 85 observers from 28 EU-member states, as well as from Switzerland and Norway, including a delegation of 6 members of European Parliament.
 
Incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) coalition won 106 seats in the election, just 7 short of a simple majority in the 225-member assembly but enough to form a government.
(PTI)
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Preferential Votes Of Winning Candidates (COMPLETE LIST)

August 19, 2015

The 2015 General Election saw the election of 196 MPs through direct preferential votes.

There will be 93 UNP MPs and 83 UPFA MPs elected directly from 22 Electoral Districts.. Furthermore there were 14 TNA MPs, 4 JVP MPs and one MP each from EPDP and SLMC.

The full list is given below

Colombo District
 
UNP
 
1. Ranil Wickremesinghe 
500,566
2. Sujeewa Senasinghe
117,049
3. Harsha de Silva
114,148
4. Ravi Karunanayake
111,394
5. Patali Champika Ranawaka
100,444
6. S.M. Marikkar
92,526
7. Mujibar Rahuman
83,884
8. Eran Wickremaratne
82,738
9. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe
81,758
10. Hirunika Premachandra
70,584
11. Mano Ganesan
69,064
 
UPFA
 
1. Wimal Weerawansa
313,801
2. Udaya Gammanpila
198,818
3. Susil Premajayantha
174,075
4. Dinesh Gunawardena
124,451
5. Bandula Gunawardena
96,057
6. Mohan Lal Grero
65,703
7. Gamini Lokuge
58,527
 
JVP
 
1. Anura Kumara Dissanayake
65,966
 
 
Gampaha District
 
UNP
 
1. Ranjan Ramanayake
216,463
2. Arjuna Ranatunga
165,890
3. Ruwan Wijewardena
157,932
4. Harshana Rajakaruna
122,455
5. Ajith Mannapperuma
113,889
6. John Amaratunga
83,070
7. Kavinda Jayawardena
81,383
8. Chatura Senaratne
71,243
9. Edward Gunawardena
65,874
 
UPFA
 
1. Prasanna Ranatunga
384,448
2.P. Ranaweera
112,395
3. Nimal Lanza
94,375
4. Sisira Jayakody
90,749
5. Indika Anuruddha
78,109
6. Sudarshani Fernandopulle
73,553
7. Dulip Wijesekara
58,936
8. Lasantha Alagiyawanna
57,950
 
JVP
 
1. Vijitha Herath
55,299
 
Kurunegala District
 
UPFA
 
1. Mahinda Rajapaksa
423,529
2.Dayasiri Jayasekara
133,532
3. T.B. Ekanayake
82,789
4. Anura Priyadarshana Yapa
77,057
5. Johnston Fernando
66,960
6. Salinda Dissanayake
54,318
7. Indika Bandaranayake
46,356
8. Tharanath Basnayake
43,020
 
UNP
 
1. Akila Viraj Kariyawasam
286,755
2. J.C. Alawathuwala
106,061
3. Gamini Jayawickrama Perera
83,346
4. Nalin Bandara
80,063
5. S.B. Nawinne
76,714
6. Ashok Abeysinghe
73,184
7. T. Indunil
64,359
 
Kalutara District
 
UPFA
 
1. Kumara Welgama
218,614
2. Rohitha Abeygunawardena
127,040
3. Jayantha Samaraweera
101,039
4. Vidura Wickramanayake
90,488
5. Piyal Nishantha
71,428
 
UNP
 
1. Rajitha Senaratne
142,186
2. Ajith P. Perera
131,383
3. Palitha Thevarapperuma
118,128
4. L. Wijemanna
58,119
 
JVP
 
1. Nalinda Jayatissa
24,855
 
Matale District
 
UNP
 
1. Vasantha Aluvihare
75,926
2. R. Aluvihare
74,785
3. R. Kaviratne
41,766
 
UPFA
 
1. Lakshman Wasantha Perera
79,309
2. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon
61,920
 
Hambantota District
 
UPFA
 
1. Namal Rajapaksa
127,201
2.  Mahinda Amaraweera
84,516
3.  Chamal Rajapaksa
80,621
4. D V Chanaka
51,939
 
 
UNP
 
1. Sajith Premadasa
112,645
2. Dilip Wedaarachchi
65,391
 
JVP
1. Nihal Galappatti
12,162
 
Polonnaruwa District
 
UNP
 
1. Vasantha Senanayake
75,651
2. Nalaka Kolonne
70,107
3. Sidny Jayaratne
41,295
 
UPFA
 
1. Roshan Ranasinghe
76,825
2. Sirisena Gamlath
63,909
 
Badulla District
 
UNP
 
1. Harin Fernando
200,806
2. Ravindra Samaraweera
58,507
3. Chaminda Wijesiri
58,291
4. Aravinda Kumar
53,741
5. Vadivel Suresh
52,318
 
UPFA
 
1. Nimal Siripala de Silva
134,406
2. Chamara Sampath
64,418
3. Thenuka Vidanagamage
43,517
 
Moneragala District
 
UPFA
 
1. Vijitha Berugoda
74,313
2. Sumedha G. Jayasena
69, 082
3. U. Gunasekara
57,356
 
UNP
 
1. Ranjith Maddumabandara
82,316
2. Ananda Kumarasiri
44,007
 
Trincomalee District
 
UNP
 
1. M. Abdulla
35,456
2. Imran Maharoof
32,582
 
UPFA
 
1. Susantha Punchinilame
19,953
 
ITAK
1. R. Sampanthan
19,953
 
Matara District
 
UPFA
 
1. Dallas Alahapperuma
105,406
2. Niroshan Premaratne
99,762
3. Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena
97,918
4. Kanchana Wijesekara
83,278
5. Chandrasiri Gajadheera
54,251
 
UNP
 
1. Buddhika Pathirana
98,815
2. Mangala Samaraweera
96,092
3. Sagala Rathnayake
85,771
 
Jaffna District
 
ITAK
 
1. S. Sritharan
72,058
2. Mavai Senathiraja
58,782
3. M.A. Sumanthiran
58,043
4. D. Siddharthan
53,740
5. E. Sarawanabhavan
43,289
 
UNP
 
1. Vijayakala Maheswaran
13,071
 
EPDP
 
1. Douglas Devananda
16,399
 
Galle District
 
UPFA
 
1. Chandima Weerakkodi
114,851
2. Ramesh Pathirana
105,434
3. Nishantha Muthuhettigama
75,994
4. Manusha Nanayakkara
73,387
5. Geetha Kumarasinghe
63,955
6. Mohan P. de Silva
53,076
 
UNP
 
1. Gayantha Karunathilaka
149,573
2. Vajira Abeywardena
142,874
3. B. Bandarigoda
66,970
4. Vijepala Hettiarachchi
53,413
 
Mahanuwara District
 
UNP
 
1. Lakshman Kiriella
199,046
2. Mayantha Dissanayake
111,190
3. Rauff Hakeem
102,186
4. M.H.A. Haleem
111,011
5. Lucky Jayawardena
67,461
6. Velu Kumar
62,556
7. A. Ananda
56,625
 
UPFA
 
1. Lohan Ratwatte
129,750
2. Mahindananda Aluthgamage
123,393
3. Dilum Amunugama
104,469
4. Anuradha Jayaratne
93,567
5. Keheliya Rambukwella
65,587
 
Puttalam District
 
UNP
 
1. Palitha Range Bandara
66,960
2. Niroshan Perera
59,337
3. Hector Appuhami
55,475
4. S. Abeysekara
36,390
5. A. Priyantha
35,418
 
UPFA
 
1. Sanath Nishantha
68,240
2. Priyankara Jayaratne
59,352
3. Arundika Fernando
47,118
 
Ratnapura District
 
UPFA
 
1. Premalal Jayasekara
154,988
2. W.D.J Seneviratne
90,472
3. Pavithra Wanniarachchi
87,660
4. Vasudeva Nanayakkara
81,068
5. Janaka Wakkumbura
69,014
6. Ranjith Soysa
63,071
 
UNP
 
1. Thalatha Athukorala
145,868
2. Dunesh Gankanda
92,804
3. H Vithanage
67,846
4. A A Wijetunga
48,665
5. Karunaratne Paranawithana
47,258
 
Kegalle District
 
UNP
 
1. Kabir Hashim
109,030
2. Sajith Sanjaya
53,218
3. Thusitha Wijemanne
50,893
4. Champika Premadasa
50,695
5. Ranjith Samarasinghe
49,442
 
UPFA
 
1. Kanaka Herath
95,807
2. Tharaka Balasuriya
73,404
3. D. Mithrapala
64,836
4. Ranjith Siyambalapitiya
62,098
 
Digamadulla District
 
UNP
 
1. Daya Gamage
68,201
2. M K M Faizal
61,401
1. H. M. M. Hareez
59,433
4. I.M.M Mansur
58,536
 
 
UPFA
 
1. Wimalaweera Dissanayake
53,537
2. Sriyani Wijewickrama
49,691
 
TNA
1. Kavindan Koneswaram
17,779
 
Nuwara Eliya District
 
UNP
 
1. P. Digambaran
105,528
2. V. Rathakrishnan
87,375
3. M. Thilakaraja
67,761
4. Navin Dissanayake
66,716
5. K.K. Piyadara
48,365
 
UPFA
 
1. Arumugam Thondaman
61,897
2. C.B. Rathnayake
45,649
3. Muthu Sivalingam
45,352
 
Anuradhapura District
 
UPFA
 
1. S.M. Chandrasena
118,234
2. Weerakumara Dissanayake
69,489
3. Shehan Semasinghe
64,865
4. Duminda Dissanayake
60,071
5. H.V. Muthukumara
54,460
 
UNP
 
1. P. Harison
113,346
2. Chandrani Bandara
83,666
3. Chandima Gamage
50,112
4. A.I. Rahuman
44,626
 
Batticaloa District
 
ITAK
 
1. Gnanamuttu Sri Nesan
48,221
2. Sathasivam Wijendran
39,321
3. Sinnathambi Yogeshwaran
34,039
 
SLMC
 
1. Ali Zahir Moulana
16,385
 
UNP
 
1. Ameer Ali
16,611
Read more...

China Applauds Peaceful Parliamentary Elections In Sri Lanka

August 19, 2015
China's Foreign Ministry applauded the peaceful and smooth parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka on Wednesday, offering congratulations on the results of the elections, China's state-run Xinhua said.
 
China believes that Sri Lanka will make greater achievements in economic, social development under the leadership of the new government, spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement.
 
The ruling United National Front (UNF), led by Ranil Wickremesinghe, secured a clean win over the opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the parliamentary polls held in the island nation on Monday.
 
Hailing time-tested friendship between the two countries, Hua said that China is willing to enhance mutual beneficial cooperation with Sri Lanka to push forward bilateral strategic partnership.
 
Friendly China-Sri Lanka cooperation is a common demand from the two peoples, the spokesperson also said.
(With inputs from Xinhua)
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Sri Lankan Election Results: Opportunity To Solve Tamils' Issues, Karunanidhi Says

August 19, 2015
DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Wednesday said the results of the Sri Lankan parliamentary elections have shown that there is an opportunity for finding a permanent solution to the issues faced by Tamils in that country. 
 
A day after the results were released, Karunanidhi said since the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) had secured 14 seats and was the third largest party in the parliament, there was a good opportunity for settlement of the Tamils' issue. 
 
"Let us hope at least after the new parliament is formed there is a permanent solution to issues faced by the Tamils living in Sri Lanka. I congratulate Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The result is a turning point in the Sri Lankan politics. While Ranil has secured 45.7% of the popular vote, Mahinda Rajapaksa has secured 42.4% and the balance by TNA and others," said Karunanidhi. 
 
President Maithripala Sirisena has promised to bring amendments to the constitution by which the country will change to a parliamentary form of democracy from a presidential form. 
 
"In this situation, the number of seats secured by TNA will influence the decisions taken by the new prime minister, and this is a good time for the Tamils to take forward their long-pending demands," Karunanidhi said.
(Times of India)
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Over 30 Former MPs Fail To Win Seats At 2015 General Election

August 19, 2015

More than 30 parliamentarians from several parties lost their seats in the 2015 General Election held on August 17. They include a number of former ministers and other prominent politicians.

Former Minister S.B. Dissanayake, who represented the former parliament from Kandy, was a prominent loser in the election. Eric Weerawardhana and Abdul Kader have also lost their seats from Kandy District.

Nandimithra Ekanayake and Rohana Dissanayake from Matale District also lost their seats. Meanwhile Renuka Herath and P. Rajathurai of Nuwara Eliya District also failed to enter parliament.

Deputy Minister Shantha Bandara lost his seat in Kurunegala along with Jayaratne Herath and Nilwala Wijesinghe from the district. All were from the UPFA. Meanwhile Neomal Perera, Antony Fernando, Dayasritha Tissera and Milroy Fernando have lost from Puttalam District.

Rosy Senanayake and Thilanga Sumathipala are prominent losers from the Colombo District under the UNP and the UPFA tickets respectively. Meanwhile Felix Perera, Pandu Bandaranayake, Upeksha Swarnamali and Sarath Kumara Gunaratne from Gampaha District have failed to win back their seats.

Former Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe lost his seat from Kaluthara District.

Nirupama Rajapaksa and V.K. Indika lost their seats in Hambantota and Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Hemal Gunasekara and Vijaya Dahanayake of Matara District also lost their seats. In Galle District, former UPFA MPs Gunaratne weerakoon and Piyasena Gamage failed to retain their seats.

Tissa Karaliyadda and W.B Ekanayake of Anuradhapura lost their seats along with Chandrasiri Suriyaarachchi and MS Thaufeek (UNP) from Polonnaruwa.

Vijith Vijayamuni Soysa and Jagath Pushpakumara, both former UPFA MPs from Moneragala, lost their seats. Meanwhile, Lakshman Seneviratne, Udith Lokubandara, Chamika Buddhadasa and Rohana Pushpakumara have all lost from Badulla.

Former UPFA MP Sunny Rohana of Ratnapura lost his seat along with Athauda Seneviratne and Lalith Dissanayake, both former UPFA MPs from Kegalle.

Read more...

Wickremesinghe Fails To Surpass Rajapaksa's Percentage

August 19, 2015

Although Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received more than 500,000 preference votes from Colombo, he failed to surpass the preferential vote percentage of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2015 General Election.

Wickremesinghe received 500,566 preferences while the UNP polled 640,743 votes. Thereby, 78 percent of UNP voters gave one preference to Wickremesinghe. Meanwhile, Rajapaksa received 423,529 preferences while the UPFA polled 474,124 votes. The percentage of UPFA voters who gave a preference vote to Rajapaksa was 89 percent.

UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa managed to obtain the preference of 84 percent of UNP voters in Hambantota. Premadasa gained 112,645 preferences while the UNP polled 134,433 votes.

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Prasanna Ranatunga Leads Gampaha Preference Votes

August 19, 2015

Western Province Chief Minister Prasanna Ranatunga of the UPFA led the preference votes in Gampaha District despite his party's loss in the general election in his district. Ranatunga received preferences, nearly 170,000 more than the leading UNP candidate Ranjan Ramanayake.

Prasanna's brother Arjuna Ranatunga came second under the UNP ticket. Ruwan Ranatunga, a third brother who contested from the UPFA failed to be selected to parliament.

UNP 
 
Ranjan Ramanayake 216,463
Arjuna Ranatunga 165,890
Ruwan Wijewardena 157,932
Harshana Rajakaruna 122,455
Ajith Mannapperuma 113,889
John Amaratunga 83,070
Kavinda Jayaratne 81,383
Chatura Senaratne 71,243
Edward Gunasekara 65,874
 
UPFA
 
Prasanna Ranatunga 384,448
Prasanna Ranaweera 112,395
Nimal Lanza 94,375
Sisira Jayakody 90,749
Indika Anuruddha 78,109
Sudarshanie Fernandopulle 73,553
Dulip Wijesekara 58,936
Lasantha Alagiyawanna 57,450
 
JVP
 
Vijitha Herath 55299
 
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Wickremesinghe Passes 500,000 Preferences From Colombo

August 19, 2015

UNP leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe passed the 500,000 preferential vote mark establishing a new record in Sri Lankan General Elections.

Wickremesinghe received 500,566 preferences while the UNP received 640,743 votes in the district. Therefore, 78 percent of those who voted for the UNP have marked a preference vote for Wickremesinghe.

Colombo is the district with the largest number of registered voters. It send 19 MPs to the parliament. UNP won 11 seats and the UPFA managed to win 7. JVP had to be content with just one seat.

UNP
Ranil Wickremesinghe 500566
Sujeeva Senasinghe 117049
Harsha de Silva  114148
Ravi Karunanayake 111394
Patali Champika Ranawaka 100444
S.M. Marikkar 92,526
Mujibar Rahuman 83,884
Eran Wickremeratne 82,783
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe 81,758
Hirunika Premachandra 70,584
Mano Ganesan 69,064
 
UPFA
 
Wimal Weerawansa 313,801
Udaya Gammanpila 198,818
Susil Premajayantha 174,075
Dinesh Gunawardena 124,451
Bandula Gunawardena 96,057
Mohan Lal Grero 65,703
Gamini Lokuge 58,527
 
JVP
 
Anura Dissanayake 65,966
Read more...
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