COLOMBO, May 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sri Lanka's leftist government headed for victory at local council elections but with reduced margins, in its first test since sweeping national polls last year, early results showed on Wednesday.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's coalition was leading in a majority of councils declared in Tuesday's local government elections, but fell short of an outright majority in many of them.

Out of 258 declared of the 339 councils by Wednesday morning, Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP) was the largest single party in 200. It had an absolute majority in 99.

The leftist NPP would need the support of other parties to control the remaining 101 councils where it fell short of an absolute majority.
The NPP's overall vote share fell to 43.5 percent, down from the 61 percent it secured at the November parliamentary election. The main opposition SJB made a marginal gain, reaching 20.6 percent, up from 17.7 percent.

Dissanayake, who upset more established political parties to win the September presidential election, built on his popularity to secure the parliamentary vote held two months later.

Since coming to power Dissanayake, 56, has made a U-turn on his pledge to renegotiate the terms of an unpopular IMF bailout agreed by his predecessor, and has maintained high tariffs.

He had turned the local elections into a referendum on his six-month-old administration, saying it was essential for his party to secure local councils so that all layers of government were "free of corruption and endemic waste".

About 60 percent of the 17.1 million electorate turned out to vote on Tuesday, down from nearly 70 percent in November and 80 percent in the September presidential vote.

The campaign was lacklustre, with no high-profile figures in the running.