UPDATE - President’s coalition expected to secure majority in Sri Lanka's general election

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Alperen Aktas and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The National People’s Power (NPP) coalition of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was set for a sweeping victory in the country’s general election, party officials and local pollsters said Friday.

“We will reach 158+ (seats) likely,” a senior NPP leader told Anadolu in a text message.

ManthriLK, a local parliamentary monitoring pollster, said while the vote count was still ongoing that the NPP would secure 159 seats.

Millions of people cast ballots to elect 225 lawmakers on Sunday, 196 lawmakers through direct vote with the remaining 29 decided on a party vote share.

Over 17 million voters were eligible to cast votes, choosing among more than 8,000 candidates.

The NPP had just three seats in the outgoing parliament.

A party needs 113 seats to form a government on its own in the Sri Lankan parliament. Any seat count above 150 stands for a two-thirds majority.

Azzam Ameen, a journalist based in Colombo, said Dissanayake’s NPP securing a two-thirds majority in parliament would be “the first time a single party has achieved this under the proportional representation system.”

Dissanayake, 55, won presidential elections in September and a day after his swearing-in called for snap polls on Nov. 14.

According to the pollster, the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), led by Sajith Premadasa, is expected to win 42 seats.

"This is a critical moment for Sri Lanka. We aim to form a strong parliament, and we believe the people will grant us that mandate,” Dissanayake said after voting.​​​​​​​