Sri Lanka: Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins seventh Presidential Elections

Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the Sri Lanka Presidential elections on November 17 marking the return of the family revered by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority after the victory over Tamil Tiger rebels. The Rajapaksa spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella called its 'people's victory' and that the sound policies put across by Rajapaksa have been 'well received by the people' who led the counting by 50.7 per cent while his main rival, Sajith Premadasa had 43.8 per cent votes. Rajapaksa's party claimed the victory and asked the Sri Lankans to 'rejoice peacefully'. 

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'Privilege to honour decision'

Sajith Premadasa acknowledged their defeat and said it was 'his privilege to honour the decision made by people' and congratulated Rajapaksa to be the seventh President of Sri Lanka. Premadasa also said that it was 'most peaceful presidential election in the history of the history' of Sri Lanka. These independent elections took place 11 months after the fatal Easter Attacks which killed nearly 269 people and Rajapaksa campaigned on the platform of national security and had joined the race just days after the attacks. He had also pledged to appoint his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka who was previously ousted in 2015 elections amidst the reports of nepotism and corrupt deals with China. 

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To the military commanders

The seventh President of Sri Lanka had also pledged to pardon the military commanders in prison for violation of human rights during the war. This has also lead to the fear escalation of ethnic tensions of the Tamil struggle for an independent state under his administration. Rajapaksa has also served as a powerful secretary in the Ministry of Defense but has been accused of persecuting critics.

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(With AP inputs)