By Former BASL President, Saliya Peiris
From the election results so far, it is apparent that the National People’s Power (NPP) is on the threshold of obtaining a two-thirds majority in Parliament or falling slightly short.
If the NPP gets a two-thirds majority, it is the first time under the Proportional Representation system that one party has got a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
In 2010 the People’s Alliance and in 2020 the SLPP fell just short of two-thirds and had to get the support of some opposition members to get a two-thirds majority.
The only parallel for this victory is the Presidential elections of 1994 when Prime Minister Chandrika Kumaratunge was elected President.
The NPP has also made significant gains in the North and East which will enable the President to be a leader who can unite the diverse communities in Sri Lanka.
The result will also pave the way for the NPP Government to quickly honour its promise to abolish the Executive Presidency.
The landslide win is a testament that most people are happy with the direction of the country since the election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, especially the change in political culture.
However, the NPP must be wary of the pitfalls that come with great power.
As the President himself had said yesterday in the past political forces used a two-thirds majority to enact laws which violated people’s democratic rights. The NPP will have to resist the temptation to enact laws and measures which will erode democratic rights and freedoms.
The new regime will have to manage the extraordinary expectations of the electorate who expect it to develop the economy, uplift their lives, control inflation, tackle corruption, address the issues of national reconciliation, enact constitutional reform and uphold democracy and the rule of law.
The NPP leadership will have to ensure that its new and relatively inexperienced MPs and Ministers do not stray away from the principled positions that the party has espoused so far and that they and their supporters do not violate the trust that the people have placed in them. No doubt the NPP leaders will remember the fate of past governments elected by the people with large majorities.
We must hope and wish that the new Government will be successful. Sri Lanka cannot afford for its Government to fail again. (Newswire)