66 from last Parliament fail to make the cut

• UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe loses seat for first time since 1977
• SLPP candidates, including Sumedha Jayasena, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena, Thilanga Sumathipala fall short in preferential votes 
• 6 women lawmakers among losers
• ITAK Leader Mavai Senathirajah among losers as party falls from 16 to 10 seats

Over 60 MPs who were in the last Parliament were voted out of office at Wednesday’s (5 August) General Election.

The highest number of casualties were from the United National Party (UNP), with its Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe losing his seat in the Colombo district for the first time since 1977. Ravi Karunanayake and Daya Gamage, who contested in the Colombo district from the UNP, too, were defeated.

In the Gampaha district, four of its former MPs namely Arjuna Ranatunga, Ajith Mannapperuma, Chathura Senaratne, and Ruwan Wijewardene lost their seats.

In the Kalutara district, Lakshman Ananda Wijemanne, and Palitha Kumara Thewarapperuma were defeated.

In the Nuwara Eliya district, Naveen Dissanayake, K.K. Piyadasa, and V. Radhakrishnan lost their seats while Vajira Abeywardena lost his seat in Galle. In Jaffna, Vijayakala Maheswaran was defeated while in the Digamadulla district Anoma Gamage lost her seat.

UNP General Secretary Akila Viraj Kariyawasam lost his seat in Kurunegala while in the Puttalam district, Palitha Range Bandara was defeated.

Several former MPs who contested from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SBJ), too, were defeated in the election. These include Sujeewa Senasinghe, A.H.M. Fowzie, and Hirunika Premachandra in the Colombo district, Thushara Indunil from the Kurunegala district, Chandrani Bandara and P. Harrison in the Anuradhapura district, and Ajith P. Perera in the Kalutara district.

Other SJB candidates who were defeated included Wasantha Aluwihare (Matale), Ranjith Aluwihare (Matale), Wijepala Hettiarachchi (Galle), Piyasena Gamage (Galle), and Ameer Ali (Batticaloa).

Several former MPs who contested from the SLPP, too, were defeated.

These included Sumedha Jayasena who lost her seat in Monaragala, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena (Matara), Manoj Sirisena (Matara), Susantha Punchinilame (Ratnapura), Thilanga Sumathipala (Colombo), Ananda Aluthgamage (Kandy), Lakshman Wasantha Perera (Matale), Sriyani Wijewickrama (Digamadulla), Weerakumara Dissanayake (Anuradhapura), S.C. Muthubanda (Anuradhapura), Padma Udayashantha (Monaragala), and Indika Bandaranaike (Kurunegala).

Three former MPs of the JVP, Nalinda Jayatissa (Kalutara), Sunil Handunnetti (Matara), and Nihal Gallapatthy (Hambantota), too, fell short of the required preferential numbers to win a seat.

Six MPs of the llankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) lost their seats, including party Leader Mavai Senathirajah (Jaffna), E. Saravanapavan (Jaffna), S. Shiva Mohan (Vanni), Shiva Shakti Ananthan (Vanni), Kaveendiran Kodeeswaran (Digamadulla), and Shanthi Sriskantharasa (Vanni).

Former MP Ali Zahir Moulana, who contested from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) from Batticaloa, too, was defeated. (CK)