COLOMBO, November 2019: Gotabaya Rajapaksa, candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna achieved a spectacular win in the Presidential elections on 16 November and immediately declared that he would be the President for all Sri Lankans.
President-elect Rajapaksa was a clear winner, defeating his rival, Sajith Premadasa, by about 10 percentage points, a calculation that was correctly predicted by his brother and campaign strategist Basil Rajapaksa on the eve of the election.
“As we usher in a new journey for Sri Lanka, we must remember that all Sri Lankans are part of this journey,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa wrote on Twitter in his first remarks about the victory. “Let us rejoice peacefully, with dignity and discipline in the same manner in which we campaigned.”
“It is my duty to serve all Sri Lankans without racial or religious discrimination,” said the seventh Executive President of Sri Lanka. “I promise to discharge my duties in a fair manner.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to be the President, not only of those who voted for me, but as the President of all Sri Lankans,” he said. “The trust you have invested in me is deeply moving and being your President will be the greatest honour of my life.”
He also extended his gratitude to the citizens and each and every candidate who made a peaceful election possible.
Sajith Premadasa, the New Democratic Front (NDF) candidate congratulated Rajapaksa upon his victory and said he would contribute as a citizen towards establishing a prosperous country.
In a statement congratulating the President-elect, Premadasa said: “We have just witnessed the most peaceful presidential election in the history of our independent republic. This was a result of the democratic gains and institutional reforms that have taken place over the last five years, that empowered an independent elections commission and restored the rule of law. My appeal to the incoming President is that he take this process forward and strengthen and protect the democratic institutions and values that enabled his peaceful election as the 7th President of Sri Lanka”.
