What foreign media say about SLPP's historic win in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament. Here is how foreign media report this historic victory by SLPP.
Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament. Here is how foreign media report this historic victory by SLPP.

1. New York Times - Sri Lanka Election Hands Rajapaksa Family a Bigger Slice of Control

   President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s governing party won a majority of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary seats, the Election Commission announced Friday, bringing the president a step closer in his quest to amend the Constitution and expand his executive power.

2. Reuters - Sri Lanka president, brother tighten grip with big election win

   Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections handed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his older brother an overwhelming majority, results showed on Friday, giving the family power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution of the island nation.

3. Independent - Rajapaksha brothers secure sweeping win in Sri Lanka election

   Sri Lanka’s powerful Rajapaksa brothers secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary election, giving them nearly the two-thirds majority of seats required to make constitutional changes, according to results.

4. CNN - Sri Lanka's powerful Rajapaksa brothers claim landslide in parliamentary elections

   Sri Lanka's ruling party has won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, the country's Election Commission declared Friday, consolidating the Rajapaksa family's control on power.

   Final results on Friday showed that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka Podujana Party (SLPP) -- or Sri Lanka People's Front -- won 145 seats in the 225-member Parliament, just five seats short of a majority needed to carry out constitutional changes, without the support of smaller allied parties.

5. France24 - Rajapaksa brothers win Sri Lanka's election by landslide

   Sri Lanka's ruling Rajapaksa brothers secured a two-thirds majority in a parliamentary election that will allow them to rewrite the constitution and increase their power, final results showed Friday.

6. Al jazeera - Sri Lankan parliamentary elections: Five key takeaways,
   President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother register huge victory. So, what does this election result mean?

   • The Rajapaksa family strengthens its grip on power, with constitutional amendments in the offing

   • Continuing centralisation of power, rights groups warn of rising authoritarianism

   • Potential flashpoints of tension with minority communities

   • Fractured, and decimated at the polls, what next for Sri Lanka's opposition?

   • An economic crisis on the horizon

7. The Economic Times - Lanka's Rajapaksa clan registers landslide win in parliamentary polls; gets two-thirds majority

   The Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), led by prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament, according to the results announced by the election commission.

8. Indian Express: - Mahinda Rajapaksa: South Asia’s longest serving ruler returns to power after a gap

   Ending the nearly 30-year-long bloody civil war with the LTTE, where all his predecessors had failed, Rajapaksa became a hero and used it to return to power with a thumping win in 2010, leading to political analysts labelling him "a man with a midas touch."

9. News 18 World - Lotus Tramples on Elephant in Sri Lanka, Unprecedented Landslide Win For PM Mahinda Rajapaksa

   China has invested heavily in Sri Lanka to keep regional power India out of the picture. The big win for the Rajapaksa family is good news for the Chinese as both countries have a deep relationship. With this in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acted swiftly by calling up Rajapaksa to congratulate him on a huge electoral success.

10. The Diplomat - Sri Lanka: The Rajapaksas Rise Again A landslide win in general elections caps off the family’s political comeback. Where does Sri Lanka go from here?

    The SLPP’s victory was emphatic. Not only did it win 18 of the 22 electoral districts on offer but also, in most areas dominated by the island’s Sinhalese majority, its victory margin was in the high 60 percent level. The Tamil-dominated areas in the north and east remained immune to the SLPP wave; the party’s Tamil ally, the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), secured just two seats.