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This Sunday, November 17, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, candidate of the powerful Rajapakse clan who aims to return to power in Sri Lanka, claimed victory in the presidential election on Saturday.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse got " between 53 and 54 percent " votes, spokeswoman Keheliya Rambukwella told AFP. The first official results actually showed the 70-year-old ex-serviceman moving towards the majority of votes. " It's a clear victory. We had envisioned it. We are very pleased that "Gota" is our next president, "added his spokesman, saying the candidate should take an oath Monday or Tuesday.
Out of nearly three million ballots now being counted , former president Mahinda Rajapakse's brother (2005-2015) won 48.2 percent of the vote. Observers expect the results of the Sinhalese areas, the ethnic majority of the country that forms the Rajapakse's electoral base, to get him above the 50% mark.
His rival Sajith Premadasa, the ruling party's candidate, was behind with 45.3 percent of the vote, according to the provisional results. Gotabhaya Rajapakse led a nationalist and security-focused campaign in a nation still ravaged by the jihadist Easter attacks that left 269 dead. On April 21, suicide bombers blew themselves up in luxury hotels and Christian churches during mass.
The Rajapakse led the South Asian island with an iron fist during the decade of Mahinda's presidency. They are haloed with the Sinhalese ethnic group to have managed to put an end to 37 years of civil war, at the price however of a gigantic bloodbath which is worth them accusations of war crimes.
( with AFP )