MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA ELECTED
FIFTH PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA
: RANIL EXPECTED TO RESIGN FROM UNP LEADERSHIP
By Walter Jayawardhaí
reporting from Colombo
The Presidential Election Campaign office of the UPFA
candidate announced that Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa has been duly elected
as Sri Lanka's fifth executive President.
As the final results were pouring in it has been projected
that Mr. Rajapaksa would receive 150,000 majority votes over his closest
rival United National Front candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe.
UNP sources said Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who headed his party unsuccessfully,
for the 13th time at an election is seriously considering of resigning
from the party leadership.
Mr. Wickremesinghe has already summoned all his close
loyalists, friends , and relatives to his residence, probably to announce
his decision, the same sources said.
Against all projections, that Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa would
win with a large majority he won with a razor thin one . Immediate analysis
showed he received mainly of the Sinhala Buddhist votes of the country.
He greatly lost in the Muslim, Tamil and catholic areas.
Archbishop Gomis' final week statements raising fears
about Rajapaksa's political allies , the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)
and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) seemed to have worked in weering
away the Catholic votes from the candidate. Rajapaksa anyway, has assured
all Sri Lankans that he would be the President of all Sri Lankans equally
despite their opposition
Mahinda Rajapaksa will be the second Southern politician
to be installed in the country's chief executive position after Dr.
Wijayananda Dahanayaka, who hailed from Galle. Dahanayaka held the Prime
Ministership, in the old Westminister system of government. Ever since
producing the warrior King Dutugemunu , who liberated the country from
foreign domination the country's Southern Province has been showing
a strong nationalist fervour. Irrespective of party differences Southern
electorates overwhelmingly voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa at this election.
A campaign insider told this correspondent that this was
the first time the Sinhala Buddhists were able to elect the country's
President without obvious help from the minorities.
Mr. Rajapaksa's campaign office said he would address
the nation today over a press conference..
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