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Former ally defeats Sri Lankan president Sri Lanka election: Outsider candidate Maithripala Sirisena sworn in after storming to victory in huge upset
(about 4 hours later)
The Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, lost his bid for a third term yesterday, ending a decade of rule that critics say had become increasingly authoritarian and marred by nepotism and corruption. Sri Lanka’s new president has vowed to scale back powers amassed by his predecessor after being sworn into office today.
Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena, a one-time ally of Mr Rajapaksa who defected in November and derailed what the president thought would be an easy win, took 51.3 per cent of the votes polled in Thursday’s election. Mr Rajapaksa received 47.6  per cent, according to the Election Department. Maithripala Sirisena was swept to power in an unpredictable election after he defeated the centre-left incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had led the country at the head of the Sri Lankan Freedom Party since 2005.
Celebratory fireworks were set off in the capital, Colombo, after  Mr Rajapaksa conceded defeat to Mr Sirisena, who has vowed to root out corruption and bring constitutional reforms to weaken the power of the presidency. Sri Lanka’s stock market climbed to its highest in nearly four years. The new president’s election was considered a huge upset in Sri Lankan politics. Polls took place yesterday on 8th January.
“We expect a life without fear,” said Fathima Farhana, a 27-year-old Muslim woman in Colombo. “I voted for him because he said he will create equal opportunities for all,” she said of Mr Sirisena, a soft-spoken 63-year-old from the rice-growing hinterlands of the Indian Ocean island state. Mr Sirisena, once a member of Mr Rajapaska’s ruling party and a health minister in his government, was backed by an all-encompassing opposition group called the New Democratic Front.
Like Mr Rajapaksa, Mr Sirisena is from the majority Sinhala Buddhist community, but he has reached out to ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims and has the support of several small parties. The group is comprised of a diverse coalition of political parties including the Sinhalese Buddhist Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Democratic National Alliance (DNA).
He was sworn in at Colombo’s Independence Square, alongside his new Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.In an acceptance speech, he was vague on foreign policy, promising to “maintain a close relationship with all countries”. Mr Sirisena’s predecessor was criticised for amassing powers and increasing the influence of the office of President of Sri Lanka. He scrapped a two-term limit on his presidency using his parliamentary majority.
However, his allies say he will rebalance the country’s foreign policy, which tilted heavily towards China in recent years as Mr Rajapaksa fell out with the West over human rights and allegations of war crimes committed at the end of a drawn-out conflict with Tamil separatists in 2009. Mr Rajapaksa had cold-shouldered New Delhi in recent years but Mr Sirisena told an Indian newspaper he would pursue a “non-aligned policy”. "With this victory we will implement the 100-day programme in our election manifesto," Mr Sirisena told cheering crowds in Colombo, the country’s largest city and commercial capital, after his swearing-in ceremony.
“India is our first, main concern. But we are not against Chinese investment either,” he told the Hindustan Times. He also took the opportunity to criticise state-run media for their conduct during the campaign.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing believed the new government would maintain a friendly policy towards China. Mr Sirisena had promised to change Sri Lanka's constitution to return the country to a parliamentary system with a prime minister as its leader, and has pledged not to run for president a second time.
A teetotal Buddhist, he has a degree in agriculture and hails from the country’s ancient capital of Polonnaruwam, the centre of the country’s food producing region.
He has cultivated a folksy image, donning elements on traditional Sri Lankan peasant dress while campaigning.
Sri Lanka is a diverse country with a number of ethnic groups. The population is dominated by the large Sinhalese population, which is predominantly Buddhist, but it has a large Tamil minority, who are predominantly Hindu. The country also has sizable Muslim and Christian religious minority populations.
The country’s Tamil population is thought to have turned out in force to vote for Mr Sirisena, largely because they did not like the incumbent Mr Rajapaksa.
The new president received 51.2% of the votes in Thursday's election compared to 47.5% for the incumbent.