Sri Lanka ruling party wins huge majority

Sri Lanka's ruling alliance secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, according to official final results announced on Wednesday after a re-vote in two districts.

The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa secured 4.8 million of the votes, or 60.3 percent. The United National Party (UNP) received 2.3 million or 29.3 percent, marking the worst defeat for the opposition since 1977.

The UPFA took 144 of the 225 seats in parliament, falling six seats short of the two-thirds majority needed to make changes to the constitution.

The UNP led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe won 60 seats.

A Tamil minority party known as the ITAK took 14 seats, with the Marxist DNA winning seven.

The parliamentary elections were held April 8, but the final results awaited a re-vote in two electoral districts due to irregularities.

Of the 14 million registered voters, 8.6 million or 61 percent voted in the April 8 election, the first since the military defeat of the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May last year.

First Published: Apr 21, 2010 10:18 IST