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Sri Lanka's prime minister defeats former president Rajapaksa in elections Sri Lanka's prime minister defeats former president Rajapaksa in elections
(35 minutes later)
Sri Lanka’s prime minister has defeated the country’s former strongman in parliamentary elections, blocking his attempted political comeback eight months after he lost the presidency. Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has lost his attempt to stage a political comeback as parliamentary election results showed the alliance that toppled him making decisive gains.
Official results on Tuesday showed Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National party won 93 out of 196 directly elected seats, while the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance secured 83. The ruling United National party (UNP) fell just short of an outright majority but the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, should still command enough support to form a stable government after eight months of minority rule.
Smaller parties won the remaining elected seats in Monday’s ballot. The elections commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, will distribute 29 other seats according to the proportion of votes received nationally by each party to fill the 225-member parliament. He said on Tuesday: “I invite all of you to join hands. Let us together build a civilised society, build a consensual government and create a new country.”
Rajapaksa was defeated by a former ally, Maithripala Sirisena, in the 8 January presidential election. A political party or a coalition must have at least 113 seats to be able to form a government. The outcome is a triumph for the president, Maithripala Sirisena, who beat his former ally Rajapaksa in a presidential election in January and called an early parliamentary vote to secure a stronger mandate for reforms.
Wickremesinghe earlier said a majority of the people had endorsed what he called his administration’s good governance and consensual politics. He said in a statement: “I offer my grateful thanks to all parties and individuals who worked untiringly during the election period to ensure victory for the people.” That poll triumph triggered wild street celebrations, but this time Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, was quiet, reflecting a sense that a difficult political transition was being completed rather than marking a new beginning.
Related: Stakes are high for Mahinda Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka heads to the polls Defeat for Rajapaksa will keep Sri Lanka on a non-aligned foreign policy course and loosen its ties with China, which during his rule pumped in billions of dollars to try to turn the Indian Ocean island into a maritime outpost.
Electoral authorities said the vote was orderly, but there were fears that if Rajapaksa won a mandate to be the prime minister, it could have triggered a prolonged power struggle with Sirisena. Wickremesinghe’s UNP doubled its representation to win 106 seats, final results showed, seven short of a majority in the 225-seat chamber. The alliance led by Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP) took 95 seats after suffering heavy losses. The UNP won 45.7% of the vote, ahead of 42.4% for Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa had told Agence France-Presse on Monday night as the results came in: “My dream of becoming prime minister has faded away. I am conceding. We have lost a good fight.” The outcome was welcomed by investors, who drove up local shares to seven-month highs on hopes that a stronger government would step up the pace of reforms and repair the strained public finances. Prithviraj Srinivas, an economist at HSBC, said: “The policy stability created by the election result is positive and will reduce uncertainty.”
Sri Lanka has a mixed electoral structure that includes multiple-member districts using proportional representation, as well as a “list” system that gives each party extra parliamentary seats based on their vote across the whole country. Rajapaksa, a nationalist strongman, set his sights on becoming the premier of an SLFP-led government but Sirisena, who succeeded him as the party’s leader in January, ruled that out and purged Rajapaksa loyalists from senior posts.
Rajapaksa was Sri Lanka’s president for nine years. He was seeking a return to politics as the prime minister, a position second only to the president, but Sirisena had vowed not to appoint him prime minister even if he won a majority. A group of Sirisena followers is expected to cross the floor to join a broad-based national unity government led by Wickremesinghe, who was likely to soon be confirmed in the post.
A prime minister acts for the president when he is absent and replaces him if he is impeached, incapacitated or dies. The president has wide executive powers and usually holds the defence, foreign relations and sometimes finance portfolios. The prime minister heads lawmaking and has some governance powers. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, the head of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, said: “The UNP will have to look for coalition partners from those who support Sirisena.”
Sirisena defected from Rajapaksa’s government and formed an alliance with Wickremesinghe to defeat his former colleague in the presidential election. With outside support, the centre-right alliance could hope to muster the two-thirds majority required to pass proposed constitutional reforms that would make government more accountable and simplify Sri Lanka’s complex election laws.
Since his presidential loss, there has been a sharp reversal of fortune for Rajapaksa, his family and friends, who were once all-powerful controllers of the island nation. Some now face investigations or lawsuits on allegations of corruption, misuse of power and murder. The power struggle between the current and former presidents overshadowed the election in a country with a history of political feuding that has often spilled over into violence and even the assassination of its leaders.
Deshapriya said Monday’s elections were incident-free, other than some minor complaints. Ruwan Gunasekara, a police spokesman, said 35 people were arrested countrywide for election law violations. A backlash against Rajapaksa’s attempt to win an unprecedented third term led support to coalesce around Sirisena, his former health minister, a humble figure with none of the muscular bravado of his predecessor.
Rajapaksa was hailed a warrior king for defeating Tamil Tiger separatists to end a 26-year civil war. But he is accused of using his popularity to take control of parliament, the courts, the armed forces and all government institutions. He was also accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing freedoms. Rajapaksa, who is now expected to lead a rump parliamentary opposition, told Reuters he would “support good policies and oppose bad things”.
Rajapaksa had been seeking to prolong his rule after abolishing a two-term limit for presidents when he lost in his attempt to win a third term. But he could now be confronted with judicial proceedings, along with his two brothers who held high office, for alleged corruption and abuse of power during his decade in power. They have denied any wrongdoing.
A Sirisena aide who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said: “Mahinda has to compromise – resign from politics and parliament, and settle down as a former president – or face the legal consequences.”