Presidential Elections

On January 26^th Sri Lanka conducted the 6^th presidential election. Incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse won the election by a wide margin. About 72% of the eligible voters cast their vote. The election was clean and peaceful even though the campaign was not.

Mr. Rajapakse was the strong favorite in rural Sinhalese areas while opposition was favored in big cities and Tamil areas. This result is a tremendous vote of gratitude by the Sinhalese villagers for ending the 27 year old civil war. The villages sacrificed and suffered disproportionately during the war. I visited dry zone villages three days after the elections and they were still celebrating!

Reports in international media seem to accentuate the negatives, continuing the habits developed during the civil war while the country is enjoying the stability and peace.