New SL Parliament convenes

Colombo, Aug 20 (IANS) The new Sri Lankan Parliament convened for its inaugural session on Thursday following the August 5 general elections, which saw the ruling SLPP party secure a landslide victory.

In the crucial polls, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party won 145 seats off the 225-member Parliament.

It became the single largest party to gain a nearly two-thirds majority in Parliament.

On Thursday morning, legislators gathered in Parliament after which SLPP MP Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was unanimously elected as the new Speaker after his name was proposed by Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and seconded by opposition MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara, reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, SLPP MP Johnston Fernando was appointed as the chief government whip while Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was appointed as Leader of the House.

Following his appointement, Abeywardena recognized Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader and former presidential candidate Sajith Premadasa as the Opposition Leader.

President Rajapaksa is expected to address the inaugural session on Thursday afternoon.

Sri Lanka peacefully held its parliamentary polls on August 5, two times after it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, amidst strict health guidelines.

While the SLPP won a majority, Premadasa’s party was the runner-up by winning 54 seats while the ITAK, a Tamil political party, won 10 seats.

One of Sri Lanka’s oldest political parties, the United National Party, led by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe did not win any seats.

On August 9, SLPP leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as the new Prime Minister, while the new Cabinet took oath three days later.

–IANS

ksk/