Gatabaya Rajapaksa has been elected into presidency by the Sri Lankan general public. As the first ex-military personnel to assume office, his new position has caused concern surrounding issues of human rights and fair treatment of minorities.
The 70-year-old was successful in his campaign as a result of winning the majority Sinhala population vote. The election had a record breaking turnout of 80% in which Rajapaksa secured 52% of the vote by defeating his opponent Sajith Premadsa.
In his rally, the retired militant had also appealed to the minority Tamil and Muslim citizens living in Sri Lanka. These groups make up around 20% of the South Asian Island nation’s population. However, most of them refused to back him, which was a response that the then-candidate was not expecting.
Rajapaksa has pledged to make national security a priority, and follow a neutral foreign policy. After the Easter Bombings earlier this year, the safety of citizens has been a major concern for the government. It is even believed that he will re-enforce surveillance measures and increase patrols in certain regions.
However, the new President will have a difficult road ahead of him. Sri Lanka is still suffering under the heavy burden of national debt after the end of a civil war some time ago. The country’s residents expect an efficient way of managing sectors and finance from their new leader, as was carried out by the last Prime Minister.
Not everyone was in favour with the results of the election. Rajapaksa has been referred to as “the terminator” by his rivals and his own family. The alarming nick-names comes after him being faced with accusations of torture and corruption. He has even been blamed for hiring military death squads to hunt down Tamil separatists during the war when his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was President.
Hilmy Ahmed, the vice-president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council said: “It is all our worst fears realised. Sri Lanka is totally polarised by this result and we can see through the votes there is now a clear divide between the Sinhala Buddhist majority and the minorities. It is a huge challenge to see how the country could be united.”
