As Deutsche Welle (DW) reported on 6 August 2020, incumbent Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has won a
landslide victory in the country"s parliamentary elections.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "The elections did not bring any unforeseen surprises. Prime Minister Rajapaksa"s party won a majority of almost 60% in parliament, so that together with supporting parties, he can even change the Constitution and remove the limitations on the presidential position which an earlier parliament had imposed (not least in a reaction to his own period in office as president). In these insecure times, it seems the voters preferred to go for stability, knowing what they get - a strongman at the helm and most likely more help from China."
Thomas Muller continues: "Even though strengthening the economy will be the main focus for the new government, given the ruling party"s strong reliance on Buddhist supremacy, this is no good news for the Christian minority. For them, it is also worrying that the next Rajapaksa generation is already involved in governing the country. With the prime minister"s son also now voted in, it brings the
number of Rajapaksas in government to four (Foreign Policy, 14 August 2020). And not only this, according to a report from the Financial Times Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksas
directly control 126 of 434 government departments and entities, which is a stunning 29% (FT LK, 22 August 2020)."
Thomas Muller adds: "It is interesting that the ultra-nationalist monks also won one seat in parliament. It had been widely expected that notorious firebrand monk Gnanasara Thero would take up this position; however, a
fierce fight for the seat broke out between at least three monks, showing that next to ideology, the quest for power and influence is a never aging motive (UCA News, 17 August 2020)."
