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| Sri Lanka | |
| 'Terminator' Rajapaksa storms to victory in Sri Lanka election | |
| 2019-11-18 | |
The retired lieutenant colonel, nicknamed the "Terminator" by his own family, won 53-54 per cent of the vote, his front man told AFP as Rajapaksa's main rival Sajith Premadasa of the ruling party conceded the race. "It is a clear win. We envisaged it. We are very happy that Gota will be the next president. He will be sworn in tomorrow or the day after," front man Keheliya Rambukwella said. Rajapaksa, 70, had a 49.6pc share of the vote with close to six million ballots counted. He is the younger brother of the charismatic but controversial Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005-15. Results from Sinhalese-majority regions ‐ the Rajapaksas' core support base ‐ were expected to push this above 50pc. Premadasa, 52, of the ruling party was trailing at 44.4pc. He had strong support in minority Tamil areas and a poor showing in larger Sinhalese constituencies. Election Commission chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said at least 80pc of the 15.99 million eligible voters participated in Saturday's poll, which was marred by isolated violence that left several people injured. Rajapaksa conducted a nationalist campaign with a promise of security and a vow to crush religious extremism in the Buddhist-majority country following the April 21 suicide kabooms blamed on a homegrown jihadi group. Related: Gotabaya Rajapaksa: 2010-04-22 Fonseka rails against 'injustices' at opening of Sri Lankan parliament Gotabaya Rajapaksa: 2009-05-23 How Sri Lanka's military won Gotabaya Rajapaksa: 2009-05-19 Tiger dead, a secret spills Related: Tamil Tigers: 2018-03-09 To Putin, Assad’s enemies in Syria are the same as Russia’s in Chechnya Tamil Tigers: 2017-11-10 The ideology of a genocide Tamil Tigers: 2017-07-28 European Union’s top court keeps Hamas on terrorism list Related: Mahinda Rajapaksa: 2019-09-18 Opening of Sri Lanka’s tallest tower marred by corruption allegation Mahinda Rajapaksa: 2019-04-29 Day 9: Sri Lanka raids headquarters of hardline group suspected in church bombings Mahinda Rajapaksa: 2018-11-16 Sri Lankan lawmakers fight in Parliament over PM dispute | |
| Posted by:Fred |