The results of Sri Lanka's Presidential Elections for 2019 became clear within the first few hours of counting on Sunday. Former wartime defence secretary and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna's candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has emerged victorious in the Presidential race of the island nation. Here are five important takeaways from the election results.
1. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of former Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, got a vote share of over 50% in the polls. Rajapaksa had held a fierce campaign ahead of the election and focussed on security in the nation, following the April 21 suicide bomb attacks. He had promised to improve security and weed out religious extremism in the country, which has a Buddhist majority. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had already faced severe criticism for failing to prevent the attacks despite warning from intelligence agencies in India. Gotabhaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa are credited with bringing the civil war to an end. However, Gotabhaya faces charges of serious human rights violations during the war. Despite this, most Sri Lankans, especially in rural areas, would have voted for him in the hope that he would turn around the economy that has been hit severely.
2. Sri Lanka's ruling party candidate,Sajith Premadasa of the United National Front, acknowledged his defeat in the election, just hours into the counting and said, "It is my privilege to honour the decision of the people and congratulate Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on his election as the seventh President of Sri Lanka."
It is my privilege to honour the people's decision and congratulate Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on his election. I am grateful to our citizens who voted for me. I am humbled that you placed your faith in me. Your support has been a fountain of strength throughout my political career. pic.twitter.com/CGYy1NCth2
— Sajith Premadasa (@sajithpremadasa) November 17, 2019
3.Keheliya Rambukwella, the spokesperson for Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna meanwhile stated, "It is a clear win. We envisaged it. We are very happy that Gota will be the next president. He will be sworn in tomorrow or the day after." He told the media that his party had won 53-54% of the votes, even before the final results were declared.
4. According to reports and initial numbers, Rajapaksa saw strong support in Sinhalese dominated areas, winning in nearly all of them. Premadasa meanwhile had strong support in minority Tamil areas but failed to garner support in larger Sinhalese constituencies.
5. For India, Rajapaksa's victory is a matter of concern as his party is considered pro-China. This result will have a bearing on China's presence in the Indian Ocean region, which already has an increasing number of Chinese ships in its waters. Beijing has also acquired Sri Lanka's Hambanota port in 2017 as a debt swap and has been aggressively strengthening its ties and presence in the island nation.