Sri Lanka's former military chief Gotabhaya Rajapakse claimed victory in the presidential election. "It's a clear victory," said his spokesman. Rajapakse will be sworn in tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The 70-year-old was after counting nearly six million votes at 49.6 percent, Sajith Premadasa by the governing party UNP at 44.4 percent. Premadasa acknowledged his defeat.
Observers had expected a close race between Premadasa and opposition candidate Rajapakse, whose contentious brother Mahinda ruled the country authoritarian from 2005 to 2015. Critics saw Rajapakse's candidacy as an attempt to bring the ex-president back to power.
Premadasa congratulated his opponent on the election victory. "It is an honor for me to acknowledge the people's decision," he said.
Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP
Candidate Sajith Premadasa: "It is my honor to recognize the people's decision"
To secure the ballot in the South Asian island state, around 85,000 police were mobilized. Almost 16 million voters were called to vote. The election on Saturday was overshadowed by violent incidents. A bus convoy of Muslim minority voters was shelled and pelted, according to police. In the Tamil stronghold of Jaffna in the north of the country, ten men were arrested, which in the opinion of the police "wanted to make trouble."
Tensions between Buddhist Sinhalese and Muslim minority
In April, the holiday paradise of Sri Lanka had been shaken by attacks by Islamic fundamentalists, killing 258 people.
As a result, more than a hundred suspects were arrested. There were also arrests in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to the Sri Lankan army. Although the government of the island state blames Islamist National Thowheeth Jama'ath (NTJ) for the attacks, it believes that it has foreign aid. The jihadist militia "Islamic State" (IS) complained about the attacks (read here an analysis of the attacks in Sri Lanka).
After the attacks, there had been riots. The predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese represent the majority of the population. There had been tensions and violence between Sinhalese and the Muslim minority for some time now - this accounts for about ten percent of the nearly 21 million Sri Lankans.