Rajapaksa wins Sri Lanka presidential polls

Bloomberg

A family of strongmen who tilted Sri Lanka towards a deep reliance on China clinched victory in a tightly-fought presidential election, as voting showed the country remains divided down ethnic lines.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa won 52.3% of the votes, while ruling alliance candidate Sajith Premadasa had 42% at the final count, according to the Election Commission of Sri Lanka. There were a record 35 candidates in the election.
Rajapaksa, 70, secured his win by capturing votes in Sinhala-Buddhist southern provinces, while Premadasa had large majorities in the Tamil-dominated north.
“The early results looks like it’s going to leave Sri Lanka very polarised, especially on the north-south divide,” said Akhil Bery, South Asia analyst at risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “It’s incumbent on Gotabaya to prove that he can bridge the gap, but past indicators make it unlikely.”
In a speech after he was declared winner, Rajapaksa said he intends to be a leader for all Sri Lankans.
“I am fully cognizant that I have to serve all Sri Lankans, irrespective of race and religion, for those who voted for me and those who did not,” Gotabaya said.
Minority Tamil and Muslim groups together form about 25% of the country’s population, and had been crucial for Premadasa, 52.
“There is a genuine sense of fear about what a Gotabaya presidency means for minorities, and it will be up to him to show that he is indeed looking to the future and healing the wounds of the past,” Bery said.
Rajapaksa, a former defense secretary, made national security his key campaign platform. He rode the tide of growing disillusionment that grew after deadly Easter attacks killed more than 250 people in April and highlighted the security failures of the present government.
His brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure in office — between 2005 and 2015 — saw a marked deterioration in democracy, in particular press freedom, said Katharine Adeney, director of the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute.