NPP’s massive victory in Sri Lanka elections opens new doors to possibilities

The results of Sri Lanka’s national elections may have surprised many pundits, but the landslide victory of the left-wing Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB)—or the National People’s Power (NPP)—has also shown how infantile it is to write off the future of the communist movement in South Asia. 

With Sri Lanka, two countries out of seven in the region are now governed by communists, while the regional hydra India has one of its states ruled by the left.

Although the NPP’s victory in Sri Lanka’s national elections is phenomenal, it’s a result of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake‘s personal charisma, which has been able to sell hope of a new dawn to a country that has been passing through a gloomy economic phase for a long time. 

Mr Dissanayake’s victory in the presidential elections held in September showed a possibility of a new type of politics by someone not linked with any of the political dynasties accused of eating up Sri Lanka like pests. It was a gamble for Mr Dissanayake to dissolve the 16th Parliament and call for an election. 

Generally, snap polls show adverse results for heads of governments these days, as seen in Britain and Japan. But Mr Dissanayake’s gamble worked. The NPP won 159 out of the 225 seats (196 go to polls) getting around 62% of total votes, which is massive. 

Moreover, it’s the first time that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the party of Mr Dissanayake and the main driving force of the NPP, has made a kill in the parliamentary election in the country after resurrecting like a phoenix.

The JVP was wiped off from Sri Lanka by the far-right regime through a genocide in the late 1980s that killed thousands of its supporters and almost all top leaders, including its founder.

Soon after the victory, Mr Dissanayake has appointed his government’s 22-member cabinet, including himself. While Harini Amarasuriya, an academic and trade union activist vocal for higher allocation in public education has been appointed by Mr Dissanayake as the prime minister, he has retained key portfolios like defence,  finance and economic development and digital economy. 

A tenured parliamentarian and former minister, Vijitha Herath has been appointed as the new foreign minister who will be navigating the complex geopolitical challenges for Sri Lanka, which has to deal with the pressures exerted by regional powers China and India while sorting the billions of dollars of International Monetary Fund’s debts on the country.

Mr Dissanayake’s journey ahead won’t be a smooth ride as he has to overcome a lot of challenges and fix a lot of problems in the economy that his predecessors had created. But in doing so, he must be careful towards the people who have shown faith in the NPP’s agenda and promises.

For now, Sri Lanka needs quick relief from reeling inflation, austerity measures and unemployment. If Mr Dissanayake can show a way to handle such challenges, it won’t just be a cause for the NPP’s further victories in the island nation’s elections but also for other left-wing forces to learn from and benefit.

It’s to be seen whether Mr Dissanayake, armed with an absolute majority, can handle the challenges well and drive the country out of the crisis zone it has been mired in for over a decade.