Sri Lanka's ruling party led by Mahinda Rajapaksa wins parliamentary poll

Colombo : The ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa won a landslide victory in the August 5 parliamentary election by gaining a majority in the new 225-member parliament, the Election Commission said on Friday.

The SLPP won 145 seats, making it the single largest party to gain a nearly two-thirds majority in Parliamentm reports Xinhua news agency.

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya or the United People's Front, led by former presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa was the runner-up by winning 54 seats while the ITAK, a Tamil political party, won 10 seats.

One of Sri Lanka's oldest political parties, the United National Party, led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not win any seats.

Rajapaksa will be sworn in as the nation's new Prime Minister following his party's victory, likely by the weekend after which a new cabinet will be appointed next week.

According to the country's constitution, the cabinet will be limited to 30 ministers.

Rajapaksa, in a short statement on his official Twitter account soon after the party's victory, thanked his voters and expressed gratitude to them for placing their trust in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and himself.

"We will ensure Sri Lanka will not stand disappointed during our tenure," Rajapaksa said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a statement released late on Thursday night said he was confident of establishing a strong parliament following the SLPP's victory.

Sri Lanka held its parliamentary election on August 5 which was declared as one of the most peaceful elections held in the island country's political history.

A 71 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

Sri Lanka's new Parliament will convene on August 20