April 21, 2010 8:53 PM

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Sri Lanka ruling party wins parliamentary elections

In Sri Lanka, final results from general election confirm that President Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition has secured an overwhelming victory. His alliance of parties has secured the biggest landslide victory seen in the country since 1977, although on the lowest turnout since independence.The results came after repolling in two parts of the country hit by violence on election day two weeks ago. Mr Rajapaksa narrowly failed to win enough seats to alter the constitution. It won 144 seats in a Parliament of 225 seats. The main opposition United National Party was trounced in the poll, winning just 60 seats, while the main minority Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance came third with 14. The leftist Democratic National Alliance of former army chief and key Rajapakse rival Sarath Fonseka picked up seven seats in the new legislature, which holds its first session tomorrow. The final result showed that 61.26 per cent of the 14.08 million electorate voted, making it the lowest turnout in Sri Lankan legislative elections.

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