Rajapaksa emerges victorious in Sri Lankan Presidential election
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
New Delhi, Jan 27, IRNA -- Incumbent Mahinda Rajapska Monday emerged victorious in the bitterly-fought first post-LTTE era Presidential elections against former army chief Sarath Fonseka after counting showed that he had secured nearly 60 per cent of the total votes.
64-year-old Rajapaksa polled 6 million votes or 58.8 percent of the total ballots cast while Fonseka, the joint opposition candidate, secured 4,1 millionz or 40.8 per cent, PTI reported quoting sources in the President's office.
Over 14.8 million voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the polls. More than 68,000 police personnel and 25 army battalions had been deployed for the conduct of peaceful elections. The elections were the first peacetime presidential vote since Tamil Tigers took up arms in 1972.
Rajapaksa had called the elections two years ahead of schedule in an apparent bid to cash in on the victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels, for which both he and Fonseka had claimed credit.
Election monitors from international bodies observed the crucial polls, including 40 from Asian Election Monitoring Authority. In the run-up to the elections, at least five people were killed and hundreds injured in poll-related violence.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 922333
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