ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s opposition parties are forced to negotiate for an unlikely coalition to establish local councils in the bodies in which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ruling National People Power (NPP) does not have the majority amid threats by the President.
In an unexpected twist, the ruling NPP has vowed to take control of several local government councils despite not having a numerical majority in them.
The development, which political observers warn could undermine democratic norms at the grassroots, has inadvertently galvanized the deeply fragmented opposition, compelling rival parties to set aside their differences and form strategic alliances.
President Dissanayake last week at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Marxists Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in Colombo said the NPP would form 152 councils where the NPP has the absolute majority in numbers.
He also said the administration of another 115 councils would be formed as he maintained that the NPP had won them.
“We have every right under the mandate given to us to form the administration of all the 267 local authorities that we won. If someone tries to obstruct this, we would like to tell them that there is ample opportunity under the law for us to respond,” President Dissanayake warned.
If someone tries to work against that mandate, the government is prepared to use the Constitution, the law and political power to thwart them, Dissanayake warned.
He also warned if existing laws are insufficient, the government may even use its two-thirds parliamentary majority to introduce new laws to prevent efforts to go against the people’s mandate.
Though the NPP emerged as the single largest party in the majority of the councils, it failed to secure an outright majority in less than half of the 267 councils.
Instead of allowing opposition-led coalitions to form administrations in those councils, the NPP is said to have been pressurising council members from smaller parties and independent groups to either abstain or support them.
This assertive posture by the NPP has sparked unease among regional leaders.
The United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), and even ethnic minority parties like the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — usually at odds with one another — have begun informal negotiations to form anti-NPP coalitions at the local level.
On Monday (19), both UNP and SJB agreed to form administrations together with other opposition parties in local government bodies where the ruling NPP does not have the majority.
“The discussions were successful. You can see this when we establish the councils on June 2,” Opposition SJB politician Lakshman Kiriella told reporters after the meeting between SJB and UNP.
Thalatha Athukorala, the UNP Secretary said: “We have agreed to work together in principle”.
Both Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa-led SJB and former president Ranil Wickremesinghe-led UNP failed to see eye-to-eye before presidential and parliamentary polls, which some analysts say due to the party’s leaderships.
Political analysts say the situation reveals both the growing ambition of the NPP and the cracks in Sri Lanka’s multiparty democratic fabric.
While the NPP claims it is simply asserting leadership in the wake of a national mandate and voter enthusiasm, critics argue that power must be exercised within constitutional and democratic limits — especially at the local level where coalition governance is often the norm.
While the NPP still enjoys high popularity among urban youth and first-time voters, this unforced political overreach at the local level is now serving as the glue binding its adversaries — many of whom previously couldn’t even agree on a common platform. (Colombo/May 19/2025)
