- Parliament to convene this Thursday
- Cabinet to be under 25 ministers
The Cabinet of the newly-elected Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) Government is set to be sworn in tomorrow (18), it is learnt.
NPP sources confirmed that the Cabinet would be notably smaller than previous administrations, with the number of ministers capped at fewer than 25, in line with the Government’s pledge to streamline governance and improve efficiency.
The swearing in of the new Members of Parliament (MPs) will be held on Thursday (21), with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake scheduled to address Parliament that evening.
As of yesterday (16), the NPP has been finalising the composition of its Cabinet.
According to sources, a special meeting had been held last morning to discuss the Cabinet’s structure and by last night the final Cabinet positions were expected to be confirmed.
The NPP’s victory at the General Elections marked a historic moment for Sri Lanka’s political landscape.
Led by President Dissanayake, the NPP secured a two-thirds majority in Parliament, garnering 6,863,186 votes (61.56%) and 159 seats. This is the first time a political party has won a two-thirds majority under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, breaking multiple records in the process.
The NPP emerged victorious in 21 out of 22 electoral districts, including major regions such as Colombo, Kandy, Gampaha, and Jaffna. The Illankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) won the Batticaloa District. This victory represents the largest number of seats ever obtained by a single party in Sri Lanka’s history since the parliamentary seat count was increased to 225.
The NPP’s win also saw it secure the highest percentage of valid votes obtained by a party at a Parliamentary Election, surpassing the previous record held by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in 2010.
In addition to securing 159 seats, the NPP also won the highest number of electorates (151) and electoral districts (21), breaking records previously held by the UPFA in 2010. Its victory also saw it surpass the SLPP’s 2020 vote total, cementing its place as the dominant force in Sri Lanka’s political arena.
Meanwhile, the election results marked a significant setback for Opposition parties.
Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) secured only 40 seats (including five National List slots) – a sharp decline from the 4.3 million votes it received at the September Presidential Election.
The SLPP, which had won a decisive 59% of the vote in 2020, was reduced to just three seats and 350,429 votes.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s New Democratic Front (NDF) won only three seats and two National List slots – a substantial drop from his 2.2 million presidential votes. The ITAK secured eight seats with 257,813 votes.
Many prominent MPs in the former Parliament failed to retain their seats, including Manusha Nanayakkara, Harin Fernando, Kanchana Wijesekera, Johnston Fernando, Ramesh Pathirana, Mahinda Amaraweera, Duminda Dissanayake, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Dilum Amunugama, and Rajitha Senaratne, among others.
AKD’s new Govt. policy statement on Thursday
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) will present the new Government’s policy statement during the ceremonial sitting of the 10th Parliament on 21 November at 3 p.m.
The policy statement, a constitutional requirement under Article 33(a), will outline the Government’s plans and legislative priorities for the coming term.
The session will officially begin at 10 a.m., with the policy statement being delivered later in the afternoon.
Following this, a three-day workshop for newly elected MPs on the parliamentary system will be held from 25-27 November.
Registration for new MPs will take place between 18 and 20 November, with Parliament employees’ leave cancelled during this period.