Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010
The presidential elections in Sri Lanka took place on 26 January 2010. The election was won by the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa ahead of his main protagonists General Sarath Fonseka.
Political background
The election was the total of 6 presidential election since the country's independence in 1948. On 23 November 2009, the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa had announced early elections. His six - year term would have expired until 2011. The Constitution of Sri Lanka allowed the President to convene new elections at the earliest after the fourth year of his term of office, of which the President made use of. Candidate nominations were accepted until 17 December 2009. The last presidential election in 2005 Mahinda Rajapaksa had won only with a very narrow majority of 50.29% of the vote. The separatist Tamil Tigers had called for a boycott of the election at that time, and in the north and east, the turnout was very low. The opposition accused Rajapaksa before he was able to win the election only because this election boycott. One of the main reasons why Rajapaksa stood almost two years earlier than required for election, was the relatively favorable for him political climate in Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa had managed to achieve in his tenure, a major political success in a field on which his three predecessors had failed. It was succeeded in his tenure, a military defeat on the Tamil Tigers, thus terminating the almost 26 years of civil war on the island de facto. This had brought him, at least for most Sinhalese considerable popularity gain. This high spirits had also been demonstrated in the regional elections in the years 2008 to 2009, which were won by the United People 's Freedom Alliance.
Main protagonists
President Mahinda Rajapaksa was supported by the United People 's Freedom Alliance (UPFA ), an Alliance Party, which has its political focus in the south of the country. It's main opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka was. Fonseka was in the years 2005-2009 Commander in Chief of the Sri Lankan army and thus with primarily responsible for the defeat of the Tamil Tigers. in large parts of the population of Sri Lanka, he is therefore seen as a military hero figure. After the end of the civil war there had been an increasing distancing between the General and the President. At the request of the opposition parties Fonseka declared candidacy for the presidency and stood ready so back in November 2009 from his military post. He was supported by the New Democratic Front, a newly formed political party, which emerged from the former Democratic United National Front and the United National Front. Also succeeded Fonseka, although he was ahead to win the support of many Tamil and Muslim organizations in the run up to the election, mainly because these distrusted the reputation of an uncompromising Sinhala nationalists the autocratic behavior of President Rajapaksa. Besides Rajapaksa and Fonseka about 20 other candidates were allowed to vote.
Sarath Fonseka (New Democratic Front )
The end of the election campaign and the election
14.0885 million registered voters were eligible to vote. The poll was carried out in about 11,000 polling stations. During the campaign there were numerous violent clashes and arrests. Representatives of the United Nations, the United States and the European Union expressed concern about the level of violence. However, the actual election day proceeded under massive police and military presence and under the supervision of international observers relatively orderly and non-violent. Which are under state control media reported mainly on Rajapaksa's election campaign, as well as state resources such as public buildings were used, etc. on one side for the election of the President, which was criticized by observers.
Results
- Majority for Sarath Fonseka
- Majority for Mahinda Rajapaksa
- Majority for Sarath Fonseka
- Majority for Mahinda Rajapaksa
The turnout was 74.5 %. 101 838 ballots were invalid. According to the official results Rajapaksa was re-elected with 6,015,934 votes ( 57.88 %) for a second term. Fonseka received 4,173,185 votes ( 40.15% ). Fonseka said that he did not recognize the election results and the choice will challenge legally. Rajapaksa called his victory a " choice of the people " (a choice of the people) and said he wanted to be a president for all.
Results in the districts
The following table contains the official election results by districts and provinces.