Mahinda Rajapaksa Loses Elections, Maithripala Sirisena Is The New President Of Sri Lanka

Mahinda Rajapaksa's decade long rule seems to have come to an end as he has accepted defeat in the Presidential election, his office has announced today. He has been vanquished by his erstwhile colleague and former health minister Maithripala Sirisena.

The official statement has ensured a "smooth transition of power."



Official result will come as late as this evening, but the initial counting trend foretells that Mr Sirisena has already crossed the half way mark and is on his way to the Presidential chair.

Mr Sirisena is yet to comment on this.

Mr Rajapaksa has already vacated Temple Trees, his official residence.

Mr Sirisena was Rajapaksa's ally until November when he announced his surprise candidacy. Both the gentlemen are Sinhalese, the ethnic majority of the island nation, which has a population of 21 million.

Sirisena was supposed to get the major chunk of the minorities, but to get the top job he had to ensure a fair bit of the Sinhalese vote share.

Huge Tamil turn out played a vital role in Sirisena's victory. Turnout in many areas, such as Jaffna and Trincomalee - two of the Tamil strongholds - was more than 70%.

Rajapaksa last won the Presidency when he defeated Sarath Fonseka, who was later jailed on charges of incriminating the government in war related crimes.

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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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