Sri Lanka election: president Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat
Rajapaksa, the longest-serving leader in South Asia, is known as the man who ended Sri Lanka’s brutal 26-year-civil war, in which an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people died.
But he was seeking an unprecedented third term as President (his government changed the constitution to allow it), and there was increasing resistance against what critics alleged was an increasingly authoritarian and dynastic rule. The President’s three brothers all held senior government posts, and his son, Namal, was being groomed as a successor.
Sri Lanka’s armed forces, ultimately under his command, were heavily criticised for alleged war crimes in the final months of the civil conflict. A
United Nations report in 2011 found 40,000 civilians had been killed in the final months of fighting.
And Rajapaksa was also criticised for failing to genuinely embrace Sri Lanka’s Tamil ethnic minority in the aftermath of the war which may have cost between 80,000 and 100,000 lives.
Disaffection with democratic rollbacks - his government came into fierce conflict with the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions - and with a prolonged economic slump, also contributed to a rising unpopularity.
Sri Lanka election: president Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat - live | World news | The Guardian
---------------------------------------------------------
Even though leaving the seat peacefully is the norm in a functioning democracy, unfortunately, a country like Sri Lanka is not very used to it so I respect MRs decision to step down from power peacefully.
-------------------------------
@T-Faz
Can you please rename the title of this thread as "Discussions and News Regarding Sri Lankan Politics"? Or any appropriate name suitable for general discussions.
Thanks in advance.