Sri Lankans Vote in Presidential Elections

Gotabata Rajapaksa (right) of the SLPP, brother of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa previously served as Sri Lanka’s defense secretary. (Flickr)

The 21 million people of Sri Lanka, after a year plagued with terrorism, growing polarization, and a spiraling economic crisis, elected Gotabata Rajapaksa of the Sri Lankan People’s Front Party (SLPP) president on November 16.

The election came at a time of heightened concern surrounding national security. Six major bombings by ISIS killed 269 civilians and injured 500 in the last year. The bombings took place on Easter Day, targeting Christian worshipers at churches and luxury hotels. The violent attacks devastated a country still recovering from a civil war that ended only ten years ago and resulted in discrimination against the Muslim minority.

The issue of religion in the Buddhist-majority country has contributed to increasing polarization in the election, and nationalist sentiment has been on the rise.

Voters have also focused their attention on economic reform. Sri Lankans live in an economy crippled by an outstanding debt of $34.4 billion—about 38 percent of the country’s GDP. Economic growth is sluggish at 2.7 percent, made worse by significant drops in tourism as a result of the Easter bombings.

Hoping to address these issues, the ballot had 35 candidates, of which two had risen to the forefront of the race.

Rajapaksa of the SLPP, brother of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa previously served as Sri Lanka’s defense secretary and now acts as the leader of the SLPP, according to Al Jazeera.

Though his platform ran on principles of national security and economic reform, Rajapaksa is plagued with controversy. The president-elect has been accused of various human rights abuses against the Tamil rebels during his time as defense secretary. He has been noted as a strong Sinhala Buddhist nationalist, causing concern among minority populations. The SLPP party has a large base of support within the country’s Sinhala Buddhist nationalists and Rajapaksa loyalists, which helped contribute to his victory.

President-elect Rajapaksa’s main opponent came from the current ruling party of Sri Lanka: the United National Party. Sajith Premadasa is a cabinet minister under current Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the son of former-President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated by Tamil rebels, Al Jazeera reports. Premadasa ran on a platform of economic reform, national security, and minority inclusion. Though he is also reported to be a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist, he hoped to appeal to Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil and Muslim populations to combat the stronghold that the uber-nationalist Rajapaksa candidacy has throughout the rest of Sri Lanka. Ultimately, his efforts fell short and he conceded defeat on November 17.

This outcome of the election will decide the future path of the country’s economy, as well as legislation regarding Sri Lanka’s Tamil and Muslim minorities, the Washington Times reports. Under the Sri Lankan system, a candidate needs a majority of the vote to become president. If either candidate fails to do so, voters’ second marked choices will be tallied up in order to determine a winner. Rajapaksa won with 52.25 percent of the vote.