The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won a majority in parliament, according to official election results, providing a solid mandate for his program for economic revival. Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party won at least 123 of the 225 seats in parliament, according to partial results released by the Elections Commission. Dissanayake was elected president on Sept. 21 in a rejection of traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948. He received just 42% of the votes, fueling questions over his party’s outlook in Thursday’s parliamentary elections. But the party received large increases in support less than two months into his presidency.
