The political frying pans of Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Ranil Wickremesinghe’s National Democratic Front (NDF), and Namal Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) are now sizzling with kernels of drama. They are teetering on the brink of a full-blown popcorn explosion. For those lucky enough to score a front-row seat via the National List, this is peak political theatre.
And yes, not only can you afford the snack, but you might land a seat in Parliament while you are at it. With the Anura Kumara Dissanayake-led National People’s Power (NPP) sweeping the general election with a thunderous two-thirds majority, the once-proud SJB and NDF have descended into a political circus of squabbles. Desperate party loyalists, now stripped of their electoral glory, are tripping over each other in a frantic scramble for the consolation prize—a seat in Parliament.
Seismic shift For many, it’s more like a frantic game of musical chairs—only this time, the music has stopped and they’re still awkwardly dancing. On a political landscape that has shaken them to their core, the once-confident players now stumble, caught off-guard by the seismic shift in power that has left them reeling and scrambling for relevance. Sajith Premadasa said that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) is grappling with the harsh reality of its plummeting voter base, which nosedived from 4.
3 million to a mere 1.9 million in the last election. Reflecting on the crushing defeat, Prema.
