Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa family heads for huge election win

GBNEWS24 DESK//

The party of Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajpaksa brothers headed for a landslide win Thursday in a parliamentary election set to strengthen their grip on power.

With more than 60 percent of the 11.3 million ballots counted, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) had 57 percent of the votes.

Official results showed that the party had secured 72 out of the 98 seats decided and was headed for a two thirds majority in the 225-member parliament that would allow changes to the constitution.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Twitter that “results so far indicate an excellent victory for the SLPP.”

His older brother said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already congratulated him for his victory that followed Gotabaya’s win in the November presidential polls.

In a Twitter statement, the prime minister said he looked forward to working “closely” with Modi and added that the two countries are

“friends and relations”.

Since Gotabaya won the presidential election, Sri Lankans have largely embraced the family’s populist platform.