Gotabaya Rajapaksa,70 likely to be the new president of sri lanka. He is best known as the man who crushed the Tamil Tigers. According to official results, Rajapaksa received 52.25 percent (6,924,255) votes while Premdas got 41.99 percent (5,564,239) votes.
In a statement on Twitter, Rajapaksa made a call for national unity saying “all Sri Lankans are part of this journey“.
As we usher in a new journey for Sri Lanka, we must remember that all Sri Lankans are part of this journey. Let us rejoice peacefully, with dignity and discipline in the same manner in which we campaigned. pic.twitter.com/tXqLrdH3Qv
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) November 17, 2019
Rajapaksa is a retired soldier who commanded the Defense Department of Sri Lanka during the time when his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President 10 years ago and had also promised the strong leadership to secure the island of 22 million people. When Sri Lanka ended its war with the Tamil Tigers in 2009, he was also the head of the Department of Defense.
Although the political future of the family seemed to be vanishing after the 2015 defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa. But when the Gotabaya has strengthened the position since the Easter attacks on 21 April this year. 269 people were killed in these attacks.
PM Narendra Modi Tweeted and congratulate to Rajpaksa as the new president of Sri lanka.
Congratulations @GotabayaR on your victory in the Presidential elections.
I look forward to working closely with you for deepening the close and fraternal ties between our two countries and citizens, and for peace, prosperity as well as security in our region.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 17, 2019
During the election campaign, he presented himself as a nationalist and champion of the Sinhalese Buddhists majority, while also promising strong national security in the wake of the April attacks.
