After five years in the opposition, the powerful and feared clan Rajapaksa returned Sunday, November 17 at the head of Sri Lanka, with the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, nicknamed "Terminator", the presidency of the island of Asia from South.
Even before Sunday's announcement of the final results of the vote the day before, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 70, claimed victory in the presidential election. "We had between 53 and 54 percent" of the votes, said Gotabaya spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella. The first official results showed the ex-soldier, the executioner of the Tamil guerrilla, moving toward the majority of votes.
"This is a clear victory, we have been considering it and we are very happy that Gota will be our next president," added his spokesman, saying the candidate should be sworn in on Monday or Tuesday.
For its part, the candidate of the ruling party in Sri Lanka, Sajith Premadasa, admitted his defeat. "It is my privilege to honor the people's decision and to congratulate Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his election as Sri Lanka's seventh president," said Sajith Premadasa, son of a dead president assassinated in 1993 by the Tamil separatist rebellion. .
The return of the Rajapaksa
Seven months after the jihadist Easter attacks that wounded the country, Sri Lanka is returning to the family that ruled it with an iron fist from 2005 to 2015 under the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa, charismatic and controversial big brother of Gotabaya, and had managed to end the civil war at the cost of a huge bloodbath.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa led a nationalist, security-led campaign following the jihadist attacks that killed 269 people on 21 April. Kamikazes blew themselves up in luxury hotels and Christian churches in high mass.
Saturday's presidential election was one of the most peaceful votes in Sri Lanka, historically accustomed to deadly polls. However, gunmen opened fire on a Muslim election bus convoy, an attack that left no casualties, the police said.
With AFP