Press Trust Of India
Colombo, Jan 9: In a stunning verdict, Sri Lankan voters Friday ousted President Mahinda Rajapaksa from power, ending a 10-year rule that was marked by allegations of family rule, corruption and authoritarianism and chose his one-time minister Maithripala Sirisena in his place.
Hours after the results were declared, 63-year-old Sirisena, who led a revolt and defected to the opposition camp on the eve of announcement of the elections, was sworn-in as President, symbolising a smooth transition of power. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who till now was the leader of opposition, was also sworn in.
The two of them took the oath of office at a ceremony in the Independence Square, where Supreme Court Justice K Sripavan administered the oath to Sirisena.
What was considered impossible till a few weeks ago became possible when the voters showed the door to 69-year-old Rajapaksa, who was suave but ruthless when it came to decimating the dreaded LTTE that had earned him the title of ‘King’ among the majority Sinhalese and unpopularity with the minority Tamils.
Health minister under Rajapaksa and general secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party till he defected, Sirisena got 6,217,162 or 51.2 per cent of the votes against Rajapaksa’s 5,768,090 or 47.6 per cent.
Much before the declaration, Rajapaksa, who was accused of practising politics of dynasty, conceded defeat early in the morning and left the presidential house ‘Temple Trees’. After his victory, Sirisena thanked Rajapaksa for ensuring a fair poll.
The minority Tamils and Muslims appeared to have voted heavily against Rajapaksa, who had earned the wrath of Tamils over alleged human rights violations during the final phase of war against LTTE in 2009 and for not implementing the promised constitutional amendments to devolve power to them.
