Wickremesinghe to return as PM, Rajapaksa concedes defeat

Vanquished Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s hopes of staging a political comeback were on Tuesday shattered when his party lost a closely-fought parliamentary election to incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The premier’s United National Party (UNP) won a total of 106 seats in the 225-member assembly, just falling short of an absolute majority by seven seats but enough to form a government.

Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) came second, securing 95 seats while the minority Tamil National Alliance (TNA) swept the ethnic Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces with 16 seats. 

Election analysts had predicted the UNP will fall short of an absolute majority of 113 by just four seats. <g data-gr-id="30">Two-time</g> president, Rajapaksa, was quoted as saying that he conceded defeat “after a good fight”.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who defeated Rajapaksa in the January 8 presidential polls, had earlier vowed not to make the former strongman premier even if his UPFA secures a majority.

Prime Minister-designate Wickremesinghe said the victory achieved by his UNP was a mandate given by the people for good governance.

“I offer my grateful thanks to all parties and individuals who worked untiringly during the election period to ensure victory for the people. We have been able to create a peaceful atmosphere needed for a free and fair election,” the 66-year-old leader said.

He said people have backed the “revolution” achieved in January and want that to continue. “We have to unitedly work towards lifting the nation to a new height by facing challenges of the new era. I invite all of you to join hands with us to face the challenges of our mission,” Wickremesinghe said. He was set to take <g data-gr-id="33">oath</g> in a simple ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat while the cabinet of <g data-gr-id="34">national</g> government was to be appointed later.

A group of Sirisena supporters is likely to join a broad- based national unity government led by 

Wickremesinghe, who was appointed as premier soon after the former came to power.