Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he’s “happy and satisfied” with the results of the parliamentary elections in which people have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Rajapaksas-led (elder brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is now Prime Minister) Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) party. The Sri Lankan president expressed these sentiments during a brief conversation with StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin Gokhale after the results came out with the SLPP winning 145 seats in the 225-member Parliament. In this podcast with Deputy Editor Parul Chandra, Gokhale, who’s been a long-time Sri Lanka watcher, says though the party fell short of the two-thirds majority, its allies will bridge the shortfall. As for the Rajapaksas oft-expressed wish to do away with the 19th amendment which they feel curbs presidential powers, Gokhale says it will go now that the SLPP has the numbers in Parliament. Listen to this podcast for more.
Interviewer : Parul Chandra
Interviewee : Nitin Gokhale
Podcast Producer : Manas Tarai
