Sri Lanka’s controversial wartime defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa will lead the country after ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa conceded the hotly contested presidential poll on Sunday, marking the return of the powerful Rajapaksa dynasty known for its pro-China tilt, amidst security challenges following the Easter Sunday terror attacks that killed 269 people.
Rajapaksa, 70, defeated Premadasa, 52, by more than 13 lakh votes, according to the official results. Rajapaksa, who will succeed President Maithripala Sirisena for a five-year term, will be sworn in as the seventh executive president of Sri Lanka on Monday at the ancient north central town of Anuradhapura.
He will be the second member from the Rajapaksa family to become the president. His older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was president from 2005 to 2015. Rajapaksa secured 52.25 per cent votes (6,924,255), while Premadasa bagged 41.99 per cent (5,564,239) of the total votes polled, the election commission said. Other candidates got 5.76 per cent votes. The overall voter turnout at the election was around 83.73 per cent, Elections Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya said.
Following his win, Rajapaksa urged his supporters to “rejoice peacefully”.
“As we usher in a new journey for Sri Lanka, we must remember that all Sri Lankans are part of this journey. Let us rejoice peacefully, with dignity and discipline in the same manner in which we campaigned,” the retired lieutenant colonel said in a tweet.
