Sirisena wins Sri Lanka election
January 9, 2015, 5:34 am

Voter turnout for Thursday’s election was high with unofficial figures indicating nearly 70 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots [Xinhua]

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current president who led Sri Lanka through a bloody and costly civil war, has left the official residence, a government spokesperson told the media early on Friday.

Rajakpaksa’s press officer issued a statement confirming that the president conceded “defeat and will ensure a smooth transition of power bowing to the wishes of the people”.

Although a final tally is yet to be announced by the electoral commission, local media reported nearly 70 per cent voter turnout, in line with the last presidential election of 2010.

Lanka’s bloody civil war

To many Sri Lankan’s, Rajapaksa is credited with ending the long-running conflict pitting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group in a civil war to create an independent state.

The LTTE who described themselves as the ‘sole representatives’ of the Tamil people, waged a bloody 26-year war against the Sri Lankan state with the avowed aim of establishing an independent Tamil state in the North and West of the country.

The Sri Lankan civil war ended in a decisive military victory over the secessionist LTTE in May 2009, but not before the conflict killed tens of thousands of people.

Last year, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for a “comprehensive investigation into alleged serious violations and abuses of human rights” and urged the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to carry out the investigation.

The Sri Lankan government has launched its own probe.

Q&A: Charting a Third Narrative for the Sri Lankan Civil War

But while many Sri Lankans, especially those in the dominant Sinhalese population, say they are grateful for Rajapaksa’s strategy in ending the war, they have been frustrated in recent years by allegations of economic nepotism.

Rajapaksa had hoped to win a third-term presidency riding on his close economic ties with China. In September, he presided over the signing of 27 cooperation agreements in infrastructure and research to “strengthen the two countries’ strategic partnership”.

China had also granted the island nation $1.4 billion in loans for the launch of Colombo Port City, a construction project on reclaimed land.

The opposition has said it will cancel the joint construction project once Sirisena takes the helm.

In the meantime, Sirisena has previously said that he would like to maintain strong times with both China and India.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tweeted that he had called Sirisena to congratulate him on his election victory.

Source: Agencies