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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa admits defeat in election |
| 2015-01-09 |
| [Dhaka Tribune] Sri Lanka's long-time leader Mahinda Rajapaksa has admitted defeat in the presidential election, his office says. President Rajapaksa has dominated politics for a decade, but faced an unexpected challenge from his health minister Maithripala Sirisena. The statement said Mr Rajapaksa would "ensure a smooth transition of power". Official results are not due until later on Friday, but early results indicated that Mr Sirisena was on course to win the 50% needed. He has not yet commented. 'Left residence' Mr Rajapaksa, who was seeking a third term in office, is credited by many with ending the civil war in 2009, when troops routed the Tamil Tigers separatist rebels after more than two decades of fighting. But rights groups accused both sides in the war of atrocities, allegations the government denies. |
| Posted by:Fred |