Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing a
stiff competition from Maithripala Sirisena, one of his former allies, in the
general election that has been announced two years before time. Mr Rajapaksa is
in the office since 2005.
Mr Rajapaksa road on a wave of
popularity when the war with the LTTE ended on a triumphant note; but the fame
did not last long and now a huge chunk of voters accuses him of cronyism. Many
of the country's most powerful and lucrative posts are occupied by him kinsmen;
many accuse him of running the country like a family business.
His opposition, Sirisena seems to
have capitalized on this premises and succeeded in getting a big chunk of
Sinhalese vote share on his side. To make the scene worse, Sirisena is expected
to win the major part of the ethnic minority vote share that constitute 30% of
the total population.
But the fact cannot be denied
that Rajapaksa is still the most famous politician in the country right now, at
least in the Sinhalese community.
After exercising his franchise
today, he said, “We will have a resounding victory. That is very clear. From
tomorrow, we will start implementing our manifesto."
The pooling booths were opened at
7 in the morning, and the results will come out on Friday.
It should be noted that Sri Lanka
is a country divided on the ethnic line and the war between the Prabhakaran led
LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army with government backing, rendered thousands dead
and millions displaced. The Army finally crushed the LTTE in the 2009, and
Mahinda Rajapaksa basked in the victorious glory.
The West and the US have imposed
economic sanctions on the country as they are accusing Mahinda Rajapaksa administration
of serious war crimes.
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