NPP’s winning candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) having secured 105 electoral wins from the 160 electorates in the country’s presidential election, has snatched a 2/3rd majority of the electorates, leaving SJB’s Sajith Premadasa (SP) 49 electorates equating to 30%, North’s Pakkiyaselvam Ariyanenthiran winning six seats (3.8%), while then President Ranil Wickremesinghe had not won a single seat, former MP M. Zuhair, PC, has said.
Zuhair told The Island that though the forthcoming general elections would not be held under the first-past-the-post system but under the Proportional Representation system with a National List, AKD’s presidential election victory will boost NPP’s chances of winning.
AKD with a lead of 12 lakhs of votes, at the Presidential Election over his nearest rival SP, who polled 45 lakhs or 1/3rd of the valid votes polled, will see the elimination of RW’s UNP and a return to the two-party contest from the three cornered fight at the Presidential Election. Significantly, out of the island-wide majority of 12 lakhs of votes AKD obtained over his next rival SP, nearly nine lakhs of the lead votes had been obtained by AKD from the three districts in the Western Province, with the Gampaha district alone giving AKD a majority of 460,000 votes!
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory at the Presidential Election is a clear peoples’ indictment against the drowning levels of corruption, abuses of power, racism, indifference to public opinion, disrespect to judicial authority and the enacting of obnoxious laws empowering the State at the cost of the liberty of the subject.
While there is a need for a strong Opposition for the effective functioning of any democracy, SJB’s opening the “Saloon Door” for the rejected from other parties or giving prominent roles for those from its own ranks who failed to garner votes, would spell disaster for the party.
As early as 4th May 2024, close upon five months before the Presidential Elections, I said that pre-election May Day rallies have shown the Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led NPP was drawing the largest crowds, maintaining its recent trends of peoples’ support, vide Island/ Daily Mirror 4th May 2024, “Former MP M. M Zuhair bats for NPP”
