The 2024 presidential elections upended the traditional political status quo in Sri Lanka. As happened around the world that year, the incumbents were voted out and a new party – the National People’s Power (NPP) – secured the presidency. The elections came hot on the heels of a political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Facing massive nationwide protests, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned and fled the country, bringing to an end years of Rajapaksa family influence. Yet, many Sri Lankans were also dissatisfied with the main opposition party. Instead, many turned to the NPP, which had only been established in 2019, and which had campaigned on an anti-corruption, anti-establishment platform, promising systemic reform.

However, the NPP performed relatively poorly in areas with large minority populations, particularly among Sri Lankan Tamils. As the parliamentary elections loomed, the NPP was seeking to attract a more diverse vote without alienating its base, hoping to secure enough of a majority to deliver constitutional change. In this case study and discussion, participants consider how social and political cleavages, especially those related to ethnicity, have structured politics in Sri Lanka and how political parties have related to, embedded, or reshaped this ethnic alignment.

Coming soon