Return of the Rajapaksas: Daily Star contributor

NEW DELHI - The victory of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna in Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections held on August 5 was very much anticipated, although the extent of the victory was speculated on.

Rajapaksa had formally joined the SLPP on November 11, 2018, a party founded by his brother Basil Rajapaksa in 2016, after he and his supporters decided to break away from the United People's Freedom Alliance headed by the then President Sirisena. This election also ended the political career of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the chairman of the UNP whose party could not even win one seat, and former President Maithripala Sirisena of the SLFP and chairman of UPFA, whose party just became an appendage of the SLPP to survive Rajapaksa's political onslaught.

This prediction proved correct as the UNP that dominated the last parliament could not win a single seat this time.Including the national list, it has 145 seats with 59.09 per cent of votes, the SJB has 54 seats with 23.9 per cent of votes, and the Tamil National Alliance won 10 seats with 2.82 per cent of votes.This election is one of the most fractured elections in Sri Lanka in recent times, in terms of minority politics and their votes. The TNA witnessed a division from within.

It needs to be noted that the last Unity government attempted to promulgate a new constitution that addresses long standing political grievances of the Tamil minority and determine the place of religion, but it could not muster the majority as the unity of the National Unity Government was marred by the power struggle between the president and the prime minister, which paralysed the government from the very beginning.

This amendment diluted the power of the executive president as established in 1978 and transferred them to the parliament, and made the prime minister more powerful, on whose advice the president would appoint the cabinet.It revived the Constitutional Council and established independent commissions who would be appointed by the parliament rather than the president.

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