EC gazettes Ranil’s name for UNP’s solitary parliamentary seat

The Election Commission yesterday issued the Gazette naming UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to fill the seat the party won at the General Election in August.

Wickremesinghe, who contested the election from the Colombo District, did not get enough votes to secure a seat but the UNP won a single bonus seat in Parliament based on the number of votes it polled countrywide.

The UNP's countrywide tally was 249,435 votes, which was 2.15% of all votes polled. In the Colombo District, where the UNP Leader contested, the party secured only 30,875 votes. 

UNP General Secretary Range Bandara informed the EC last week that the party had decided to name Wickremesinghe to fill the post. He is likely to be sworn in next week.