This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/world/asia/sri-lanka-election-president-mahinda-rajapaksa.html
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 5 | Version 6 |
|---|---|
| Sri Lankan President Appears to Lose Election | Sri Lankan President Appears to Lose Election |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| NEW DELHI — With early counting showing Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa trailing his challenger, the former health minister Maithripala Sirisena, a presidential spokesman has told local media that Mr. Rajapaksa had left his official residence “to allow the new president to assume his duties.” | |
| “President Mahinda Rajapaksa has left Temple Trees a short while ago,” said the statement from Wijeyananada Herath, Mr. Rajapaksa’s media director. “President Rajapaksa said he is leaving in order to respect the verdict of the people.” | |
| It added that Mr. Rajapaksa had held a pre-dawn meeting with Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the opposition United National Party, during which he informed Mr. Wickramasinghe that he would leave to allow his successor to assume power. | |
| Mr. Rajapaksa’s son Namal wrote on Twitter that his family had accepted the results. | Mr. Rajapaksa’s son Namal wrote on Twitter that his family had accepted the results. |
| “Thank you to everyone who supported us through these years,” he said. “We respect the voice of the people and Sri Lanka’s great democracy.” | “Thank you to everyone who supported us through these years,” he said. “We respect the voice of the people and Sri Lanka’s great democracy.” |
| Voters in Sri Lanka turned out in unusually high numbers on Thursday for the election, which became a referendum on the performance of Mr. Rajapaksa, a larger-than-life figure who during nearly a decade in office has built close ties with China, begun a campaign of “megadevelopment” and sharply centralized power in one of Asia’s oldest democracies. | |
| Mr. Rajapaksa’s defeat is remarkable because he had an overwhelming advantage going into the election, which he decided to hold two years ahead of schedule. His image is ubiquitous in Sri Lanka’s public spaces. Campaign rallies were opulent, well-funded affairs, where he addressed a sea of voters bussed in from surrounding villages. Mr. Sirisena, unable to book stadiums, spoke to people gathered in vacant lots. | Mr. Rajapaksa’s defeat is remarkable because he had an overwhelming advantage going into the election, which he decided to hold two years ahead of schedule. His image is ubiquitous in Sri Lanka’s public spaces. Campaign rallies were opulent, well-funded affairs, where he addressed a sea of voters bussed in from surrounding villages. Mr. Sirisena, unable to book stadiums, spoke to people gathered in vacant lots. |
| Mr. Rajapaksa had steadily tightened his grip on power over the last several years, amending the Constitution to eliminate term limits and dismissing a supreme court justice who resisted his changes. But he did so under favorable circumstances, riding a wave of popularity among majority Sinhalese after crushing the Tamil insurgency in the north. Since that victory, Sri Lanka has benefited from a thriving tourist industry and has the highest economic growth rate in the region, leading many to conclude that voters would tolerate his consolidation of power. | Mr. Rajapaksa had steadily tightened his grip on power over the last several years, amending the Constitution to eliminate term limits and dismissing a supreme court justice who resisted his changes. But he did so under favorable circumstances, riding a wave of popularity among majority Sinhalese after crushing the Tamil insurgency in the north. Since that victory, Sri Lanka has benefited from a thriving tourist industry and has the highest economic growth rate in the region, leading many to conclude that voters would tolerate his consolidation of power. |
| Thursday’s vote calls that calculus into question, said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. | |
| “Basically the electorate has turned its back on misgovernance and the dynastic project, as well as authoritarianism,” he said. | |
| After counting began on Thursday night, he said, the president must have quickly understood that he had lost the election, and been encouraged to concede by army and police officials. | |
| “I think he saw the writing on the wall,” Mr. Saravanamuttu said. “He would have realized there was a swing. His representatives within the arms of the state would have told him, ‘Look, we are not going to buck the popular will.'” | |
| The upset introduces significant uncertainty in Sri Lanka. Mr. Sirisena has promised to abolish the strong presidency introduced by Mr. Rajapaksa and return the country to a parliamentary system, but the coalition around him is a sprawling, diverse one, including Buddhist nationalists, Marxists, and center-right politicians, among others. Dayan Jayatilleka, a former diplomat, said late Thursday that he expected some turbulence to emerge in the coming months. | |
| “The opposition will certainly have a transition plan, and chances of instability are small, because the state machinery will switch to the winner,” he said. “Instability will set in later, if at all, when the executive presidency is abolished and multi-polarity has set in.” | “The opposition will certainly have a transition plan, and chances of instability are small, because the state machinery will switch to the winner,” he said. “Instability will set in later, if at all, when the executive presidency is abolished and multi-polarity has set in.” |
| The contest became surprisingly close in November, when Mr. Sirisena, a longtime loyalist from Mr. Rajapaksa’s own party, suddenly defected and declared himself a challenger. Mr. Sirisena was followed by other defectors who focused their campaigns on Mr. Rajapaksa’s vulnerabilities — especially allegations that his family members, who occupy dozens of government posts, have enriched themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens. | The contest became surprisingly close in November, when Mr. Sirisena, a longtime loyalist from Mr. Rajapaksa’s own party, suddenly defected and declared himself a challenger. Mr. Sirisena was followed by other defectors who focused their campaigns on Mr. Rajapaksa’s vulnerabilities — especially allegations that his family members, who occupy dozens of government posts, have enriched themselves at the expense of ordinary citizens. |
| Mr. Rajapaksa had much at stake: His prospects were linked to those of his relatives, many of whom occupy top government posts and have been accused of corruption by opposition campaigners. | Mr. Rajapaksa had much at stake: His prospects were linked to those of his relatives, many of whom occupy top government posts and have been accused of corruption by opposition campaigners. |
| The president has spent years systematically laying the groundwork to extend his rule, changing the Constitution to eliminate term limits and removing a resistant chief justice of the Supreme Court. | The president has spent years systematically laying the groundwork to extend his rule, changing the Constitution to eliminate term limits and removing a resistant chief justice of the Supreme Court. |
| After he declared victory over the long insurgency by the minority Tamil ethnic group in the north in 2009, Mr. Rajapaksa embraced a far grander vision for his governance of the island nation, buoyed by a robust economic expansion and billions of dollars in Chinese loans for modern ports and highways. Supporters took to calling him a modern incarnation of Dutugemunu, a Sinhalese king who defeated Tamil invaders over 2,000 years ago and ushered in a flourishing period of peace. | After he declared victory over the long insurgency by the minority Tamil ethnic group in the north in 2009, Mr. Rajapaksa embraced a far grander vision for his governance of the island nation, buoyed by a robust economic expansion and billions of dollars in Chinese loans for modern ports and highways. Supporters took to calling him a modern incarnation of Dutugemunu, a Sinhalese king who defeated Tamil invaders over 2,000 years ago and ushered in a flourishing period of peace. |
| As they left polling places on Thursday morning, voters said they were balancing Mr. Rajapaksa’s successes against grievances that have built up during his second term. Despite Sri Lanka’s high growth rates, there are widespread complaints about the rising cost of living, driven by the cost of fuel and other imports. | As they left polling places on Thursday morning, voters said they were balancing Mr. Rajapaksa’s successes against grievances that have built up during his second term. Despite Sri Lanka’s high growth rates, there are widespread complaints about the rising cost of living, driven by the cost of fuel and other imports. |
| “The defeat of terrorism had to be achieved, and the whole country was deeply grateful to President Rajapaksa,” Mohan Perera, 62, a scientist from the dominant Sinhalese ethnic group, said after voting in a well-off central district of Colombo. “If they had managed the economy better after the war, I think he would have been unshakable. But much of the good will he got after the war has been squandered.” | “The defeat of terrorism had to be achieved, and the whole country was deeply grateful to President Rajapaksa,” Mohan Perera, 62, a scientist from the dominant Sinhalese ethnic group, said after voting in a well-off central district of Colombo. “If they had managed the economy better after the war, I think he would have been unshakable. But much of the good will he got after the war has been squandered.” |
| It remains uncertain what policy changes will follow, since those who rallied around Mr. Sirisena — Buddhist nationalists, Marxists and center-right politicians, among others — were united by little but their alienation from the president, said Sasha Riser-Kositsky, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in New York. | It remains uncertain what policy changes will follow, since those who rallied around Mr. Sirisena — Buddhist nationalists, Marxists and center-right politicians, among others — were united by little but their alienation from the president, said Sasha Riser-Kositsky, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in New York. |