MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO – Long-awaited elections are over, a president was elected by the people and now on Thursday,November 14, some 11,615,246 out of the17,140,354 cast their votes to elect 225 members to their parliament.
Rejected were 667,240 votes while 32 percent of the voters didn’t come to the polls at all.
The new parliament will have 176 new faces and it comprises 20 women which would include 18 from the same ruling party and two from the opposition SJB,
So far,some 17 Muslims have been elected,
The so-called party of former president Ranil Wickremesinghe,DNF, which claimed to hàve saved the country from the recent economic crisis have got a neglible number of seats in parliament and all its former ministers who were in his cabinet lost their seats in parliament.
Wickremesinghe himself did not contest the elections,so as SLPP leader Namal Rajapakse who has got a seat in the parliament as a nationál list member to the legislaturè since he did not contest the elections,
Former minister Mahindandage Aluthgamage who lost his seat in parliàment announced his retirement from politics following a crushing defeat.
The10th parliament is to commence on 21 November and the president will make a policy statement at 3 pm on the same day.
On Monday, names of the new prime minister and his cabinet ministers are likely to be announced ànd NPP member Bimal Rathnayake is likely to be appointed as the speaker of the parliament.
Colombo Times is wishing the new government prosperous and progressive years tocome
