The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has achieved a landslide victory at the General Election 2020 according to the results released at time of going to press this morning.
The SLPP, which contested a General Election for the first time, secured an overwhelming majority in most electorates, indicating that the party would gain the majority of Seats in Parliament.
This is only the third electoral outing for the SLPP, having gained major victories at the February 2018 Local Government Elections and the November 2016 Presidential Election. The SLPP won entire electoral districts by large margins, leaving another new entrant to national elections - the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB), a breakaway group of the United National Party (UNP), trailing far behind.
However, the SJB managed to completely eclipse the UNP, which fell to fourth or even fifth position in many areas, behind the JVP-led Jathika Jana Balavegaya in Southern areas and Tamil parties in the North. This election thus marks a new transformation in the political landscape.
The JVP-led Jathika Jana Balavegaya showed a slight improvement from the 2019 Presidential Election results, where its candidate could obtain only 3 percent of the votes cast.
Results released yesterday showed the SLPP taking away total votes tallying to 362,217 for Matara District, gaining six seats while the SJB secured one seat with 72,811 votes. A similar story emerged from Galle, where the SLPP won all 10 electorates gaining 430,334 votes. The SJB secured 115,411 votes in the district. The SLPP received 208,193 votes from all three electorates in the Moneragala District. The SLPP secured four seats in the Polonnaruwa district polling 180,847 votes leaving only one seat for the SJB. The SJB has secured only one seat in the Moneragala district while the SLPP gained five seats polling 208,193 votes. In the Kalutara district, the SLPP secured eight seats polling 448,699 votes while SJB could gain only two seats polling 171,988. The SLPP recorded a landslide victory in the Nuwara Eliya district, which was once considered one of the strongholds of the United National Party securing 5 seats. The SJB has gained three seats in the district.
The SLPP has swept many UNP bastions in the Kandy and Colombo district including Wattala, Negombo, Hewaheta, Teldeniya, Kotmale and Yatinuwara dealing a deadly blow to the UNP and its breakaway group, the SJB led by Sajith Premadasa.
The SLPP polled 20,486 as against 10,391 votes by the SJB in the Teldeniya polling division which was another UNP stronghold. The SLPP won the Homagama electorate with a lead of over 70,000 votes while the Maharagama electorate was won by the SLPP with a lead of over 45,000 votes.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) secured its first-ever electoral victory from the Muttur electorate, in the Trincomalee District, where it polled 51,330 votes. The SJB emerged victorious in Colombo North, Colombo Central, Borella, Colombo West and Dehiwala electorates in the Colombo District.
The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachcheri (ITAK) received 7,634 votes in Jaffna electorate in the Jaffna District, where the EPDP was placed second with 5,545 votes. The Hail Lanai Tamil Congress (AITC) got 4,642 votes and the SLFP, 1,469 votes. Kayts Polling Division meanwhile showed EPDP taking 6,369, ITAK 4,412, AITC 1,376 and SLPP 1,877. Meanwhile the total votes polled in Mullaitivu showed ITAK taking 22,492 to the SLPP’s 8307.
At the time this edition went to press, the SLPP was leading with 59 percent of the valid votes counted (59 seats) while the SJB had received nearly 24 percent with 18 seats and the JBB, 3.76 percent with no seats.
The UNP’s poll numbers indicated an embarrassing defeat with the number of votes obtained hardly tallying to four digits in many of the polling divisions. Preliminary results showed the UNP heading for a humiliating defeat as the SJB secured a significant voter turnout.
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) headed by former President Maithripala also fared poorly in the four districts where it contested separately. At the time this edition went to press, the SLPP was leading with 59 percent of the valid votes counted (99 seats) while the SJB had received nearly 24 percent with 37 seats. The JBB received 3.84 percent of the votes with one seat while the ITAK also obtained one seat (2.82 percent).
