Opposition Split

The opposition Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the United National Party have decided to contest the April 8 parliamentary elections independently after their joint candidate Sarath Fonseka lost the January 26 presidential elections by a landslide 1.8 million votes to incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa. We expect the ruling United People Freedom Alliance to win the parliamentary polls and thus consolidate the wider Rajapaksa family's control of political power. The president's 23-year-old son Namal is a candidate for the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the parliamentary polls.

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