Old times in Sri Lanka

The implications of the two-thirds majority are clear: It allows the ruling establishment to amend the Constitution and bend Sri Lanka to its will

No one could have said it better. Analysing the recent parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, Dayan Jayatilleka, former ambassador to Russia and France and Lanka’s permanent representative to the UN at Geneva, and now advisor to leader of opposition Sajith Premadasa, wrote: “President Gotabaya Rajapaksa repeatedly made two requests of voters during his electioneering walkabouts. One was that they had given him 69 lakhs (6.9 million) of votes at the Presidential Election but now he wanted 79 lakhs (7.9 million) votes. The other was that he wants a two-thirds majority. He got 6.8 million votes, which is a fraction less