Sri Lankan presidential election, 2010

6th Sri Lankan presidential election

26 January 2010

Turnout 74.50%   Nominee Mahinda Rajapaksa Sarath Fonseka Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party New Democratic Front Alliance United People's Freedom Alliance The Common Candidate[N 1] Home state Southern Province Southern Province States carried 16 6 Popular vote 6,015,934 4,173,185 Percentage 57.88% 40.15%

polling divisions won by   – Mahinda Rajapaksa   – Sarath Fonseka

President before election Mahinda Rajapaksa United People's Freedom Alliance Elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa United People's Freedom Alliance

The Sri Lankan presidential election of 2010 was the sixth presidential election of Sri Lanka. The election was announced on 23 November 2009 when incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa decided to seek a fresh mandate prior to the expiration of his term in 2011.^[1] Nominations were accepted on 17 December 2009, and the election was held on 26 January 2010.^[2]

Rajapaksa, who was elected president for a 6-year term in November 2005, was the candidate of the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance. General Sarath Fonseka, a former commander of the Sri Lankan Army, was his main opponent in the election. Fonseka had been endorsed by a number of main opposition parties, including the United National Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.

President Rajapaksa proceeded to win re-election, over 57% of all votes cast.^[3][4] Fonseka received over 40%, carrying the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. The remaining twenty candidates all garnered less than 0.5% of the popular vote.

Background

In 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected to his first term as president, defeating former prime minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, the United National Party (UNP) candidate. Before the election, Mahinda Rajapaksa was Prime Minister under President Chandrika Kumaratunga. Rajapaksa won a narrow victory, by 190,000 votes, or 50.29% of the popular vote. The separatist Tamil Tigers had called for a boycott of the election in the Northern and Eastern provinces, resulting in a minimal turnout, which the opposition claimed resulted in their defeat.^[5]

The Constitution of Sri Lanka allows the president to ask for a fresh election after four years into his first term of office (per the Constitution, a President is elected to a six-year term).^[6] Accordingly, President Rajapaksa informed the Commissioner of Elections on 23 November 2009 of his intention to hold a presidential election before the end of his current term of office.^[7]

Preparations

Dayananda Dissanayake, the Commissioner of Elections, announced on 27 November 2009 that the presidential election would be held on 26 January 2010. Nominations for the election were accepted on 17 December 2009.^[8] Sri Lankans registered with the Department of Elections and eligible to vote totalled 14,088,500, up from 13,327,160 in the November 2005 presidential elections. Over 11,000 polling booths were set up across the country for receiving ballots.^[9]

Candidates

Mahinda Rajapaksa

President Rajapaksa decided to end his six-year term almost two years early, that he might seek a fresh mandate and a longer term based on contemporary political successes that greatly increased his popularity. These included the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as well as the end of the 26-year Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009.^[10] These were accomplishments the previous three presidents of Sri Lanka had tried and failed to secure. Having succeeded where they had failed, Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance achieved unprecedented victories in the provincial council elections that followed the end of the war.

Sarath Fonseka

General Sarath Fonseka is considered a national hero^[11] for bringing an end to the Sri Lankan Civil War while serving as commander of the Sri Lankan Army from 2005 to 2009. However, following the military victory, tensions grew between President Rajapaksa and Fonseka, who later accused Rajapaksa of sidelining him after the end of the conflict. Opposition parties expected early elections and approached Fonseka, asking him to run as a "common candidate" for the opposition against Rajapaksa. After weeks of rumours, Fonseka eventually retired from the military in November 2009 and announced his candidacy two weeks later. He ran as the New Democratic Front's candidate, using the swan symbol.^[12]

Minor candidates

Apart from Rajapaksa and Fonseka, twenty other candidates had their nominations accepted, and appeared on ballot papers.^[13]

	Name	Political Party	Symbol[14]	Notes
1	Siritunga Jayasuriya	United Socialist Party	Tri-shaw	2005 presidential candidate
2	M.B. Thaminimulla	Okkoma Wasiyo – Okkoma Rajavaru Sanvidhanaya	Till
3	Sarath Manamendra	Nawa Sihala Urumaya	Bow and Arrow
4	Achala Ashoka Suraweera	Jathika Sangwardhena Peramuna	Coconut	2005 presidential candidate
5	P.D.P.S. Anura Liyanage (A.S.P. Liyanage)	Sri Lanka Labour Party	Kangaroo	Chairman/Managing Director A.S.P. Group
6	Ven. Battaramulle Seelaratne Thea	Jana Setha Peramuna	Tractor	Buddhist monk Withdrew candidacy on 14 January and endorsed Mahinda Rajapaksa[15]
7	Vikramabahu Karunaratne	Left Front	Table	Veteran left-wing politician and leader of the Left Front and Nava Sama Samaja Parties
8	Aithurus M. Illias	Independent	Pineapple	Former SLMC MP for Jaffna District (1994–2000) Withdrew candidacy on 24 January and endorsed Sarath Fonseka.[16]
9	Wije Dias	Socialist Equality Party	Pair of Scissors	2005 presidential candidate
10	Sarath Kongahage	United National Alternative Front	Gate	Former UNP National List MP
11	K.G.R.L. Perera	Our National Front	Telephone
12	Meera Mohideen Mohamed Musthaffa	Independent	Hat	Current UNP (Democratic) National List MP and former Deputy Minister of Higher Education. Withdrew candidacy on 15 January and endorsed Sarath Fonseka.[17]
13	M. K. Shivajilingam	Independent	Ship	TNA/TELO MP for Jaffna District.
14	W.M.U.B. Wijekoon	Independent	Jackfruit	Former UNP Kurunegala District MP
15	M.C.M. Ismail	Democratic United National Front	Eagle
16	Oswald Aruna de Soysa	Ruhunu Janatha Party	Motor Car	2005 presidential candidate
17	Sanath Pinnaduwa	National Alliance	Double Flags
18	Adurage Senaratne Silva	Patriotic National Front	Flag
19	C.J. Sugathsiri Gamage	United Democratic Front	Rabbit
20	W.V. Mahiman Ranjith	Independent	Almariah	1999 presidential candidate, Former UNP Galle, Sri Lanka District MP

One nomination—J.A. Peter Nelson Perera of the Sri Lanka Progressive Front—was rejected on technical grounds. Five independent candidates ran as minor contenders. This made for the greatest number of candidates in a presidential election in Sri Lankan history, breaking the record of 13 in the 2005 presidential election.^[13]

Violence and violations of election laws

Sri Lankan elections have a history of violence, misuse of state resources, and other violations of election laws. Sri Lankan police received nearly 975 election-related complaints, and 375 arrests were made relative thereto.^[18] The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) had recorded 809 incidents from 23 November 2009, when the elections were officially announced, to 25 January 2010.^[19] People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has recorded 666 incidents between 17 December 2009 and 25 January 2010.^[20] The UN, United States, and EU expressed concern over the level of violence.^[21][22][23] Election monitoring groups stated that this election was the most violent in more than 20 years.^[24][25] Although supporters of both main candidates were blamed for the incidents, the responsibility for most was pinned on Rajapaksa's supporters.^[26] However, government politician Wimal Weerawansa accused the opposition of orchestrating violence against their own supporters and meetings in order to blame Rajapaksa's backers.^[27] According to the National Polls Observation Center, criminal gangs and deserters from the army were employed to incite violence.^[28]

The government promised tight security on the day of the election, deploying over 68,000 policemen to keep the polls safe, with the Sri Lankan Military providing additional support. The election monitoring group Centre for Free and Fair Elections deployed 6,500 monitors on election day, with the PAFFREL deploying a further 6,000, including 14 foreign monitors. The government denied rumours of possible post-election violence, with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama saying, "I don't think the people of Sri Lanka have time for street protests. It has never happened."^[29]

Election day was largely peaceful, with a few minor incidents reported.^[30] According to Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya, no major incidents occurred during the election.^[31] A number of explosions, however, were heard in Jaffna and Vavuniya in the north of the country during the day.^[32][33]

Violence

There were hundreds of violent incidents during the run-up to the election.^[34] Officially, there have been four murders related to the election:

• 12 January 2010– Kusumawathie Kuruppuarachchi, a 58-year-old mother was shot dead when gunmen on motorbikes opened fire on a bus carrying Fonseka supporters in Hungama, Hambantota District.^[35][36]
• 16 January 2010– Saman Kumara, a Rajapaksa supporter, was shot dead in a clash between supporters of the two main candidates in Madurankuliya, Puttalam District.^[37][38]
• 18 January 2010– Dhammika Herath, a 33-year-old businessman, was beaten to death whilst pasting posters supporting Fonseka in Wariyapola, Kurunegala District.^[39][40]
• 18 January 2010– D.M. Suranga Indrajith, a 27-year-old driver for government minister Jayarathna Herath, was killed in a grenade attack in Vanduragala, Kurunegala District.^[41][42]

The CMEV has linked a fifth death to the elections:

• 19 January 2010– Lingeswaran, a Fonseka supporter, was found dead on the Kandy-Matale railway line in Warapitiya, Matale District.^[43]

Misuse of state resources

There were accusations of widespread misuse of state property during the election campaign.^[44] State-owned institutions paid for numerous advertisements supporting Rajapaksa,^[45][46] while public officials, state owned buildings and vehicles were allegedly used for Rajapaksa's campaign.^[45][47] State-owned television stations gave extensive coverage to Rajapaksa's campaign, with little mention of other candidates.^[47] Elections Commissioner Dissanayake criticised the government for not preventing the misuse of state resources.^[48]

Voting

Postal voting for the presidential election took place on 12 and 13 January 2010. A grace period was granted until noon on 26 January for postal voters. Applications for this form of absentee voting totalled 458,154, with 401,118 applications accepted by the Elections Department.^[49][50] More than 80% of postal voters cast their votes on 12 and 13 January, this period ending with "no major incidents" according to the National Polls Observation Centre and the People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL).^[51]

Voting for the presidential election began at 7:00 am on 26 January 2010. A total of 11,098 election centres and 888 counting centres were set up throughout the country.^[52] The Elections Commissioner had requested that voters cast their ballots early in the day.^[53]

Rajapaksa voted, in the morning at Medamulana,^[54][55] as did opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, in Colombo.^[56] Candidate Fonseka did not vote, claiming that he had not been allowed to do so despite his eligibility.^[57] The government later challenged this, stating that if he were not qualified to vote, he would "not (be) entitled to become elected".^[58] It announced that legal action would be sought against his candidacy,^[59] although the election commissioner had ruled that he was eligible to run in the election.^[60] By the time voting ended at 4.00 pm, over 70% of eligible voters had turned out, though in the Northern and Eastern provinces, figures were less than 20%.^[61] Sri Lanka's stock market recorded an all-time high on election day; the Colombo Stock Exchange jumped 1.58%, putting it up 131% since the end of the war.^[62]

Results

Final turnout was 74.5%, with 10,495,451 voting out of the 14,088,500 voters registered. Of these, 10,393,613 were ruled valid votes, with 101,838 rejected. According to the end result, Rajapaksa was elected to a second term of office with 6,015,934 votes, or 57.88% of the vote. Fonseka finished second with 4,173,185 votes, or 40.15%.^[63] Fonseka announced that he did not accept the results, and that legal action would be taken. Supporters of Rajapaksa took to the streets on the announcement of the result, waving national flags and lighting firecrackers.^[64] Rajapaksa called his victory "a choice of the people" and that he was then President of everyone in the country.^[65]

District results

Official district-by-district results of the election are listed below.^[66]

  Mahinda Rajapaksa

  Sarath Fonseka

Districts won by Rajapaksa

Districts won by Fonseka

District	Province	Rajapaksa	percentage	Fonseka	percentage	Others	percentage	Turnout
Colombo	Western	614,740	52.93%	533,022	45.90%	13,620	1.17%	77.06%
Gampaha	Western	718,716	61.66%	434,506	37.28%	12,426	1.07%	79.66%
Kalutara	Western	412,562	63.06%	231,807	35.43%	9,880	1.51%	81.01%
Mahanuwara	Central	406,636	54.16%	329,492	43.89%	14,658	1.95%	78.26%
Matale	Central	157,953	59.74%	100,513	38.01%	5,953	2.25%	77.94%
Nuwara Eliya	Central	151,604	43.77%	180,604	52.14%	14,174	4.09%	77.19%
Galle	Southern	386,971	63.69%	211,633	34.83%	9,017	1.48%	80.25%
Matara	Southern	296,155	65.53%	148,510	32.86%	7,264	1.61%	78.60%
Hambantota	Southern	226,887	67.21%	105,336	31.20%	5,341	1.58%	80.67%
Jaffna	Northern	44,154	24.75%	113,877	63.84%	20,338	11.40%	25.66%
Vanni	Northern	28,740	27.31%	70,367	66.86%	6,145	5.84%	40.33%
Batticaloa	Eastern	55,663	26.27%	146,057	68.93%	10,171	4.80%	64.83%
Digamadulla	Eastern	146,912	47.92%	153,105	49.94%	10,171	4.80%	73.54%
Trincomalee	Eastern	69,752	43.04%	87,661	54.09%	4,659	2.87%	68.22%
Kurunegala	North Western	582,784	63.08%	327,594	35.46%	13,515	1.46%	78.62%
Puttalam	North Western	201,981	58.70%	136,233	39.59%	5,899	1.71%	70.02%
Anuradhapura	North Central	298,448	66.32%	143,761	31.94%	7,829	1.74%	78.35%
Polonnauwa	North Central	144,889	64.92%	75,026	33.62%	3,260	1.46%	80.13%
Badulla	Uva	237,579	53.23%	198,835	44.55%	9,880	2.21%	78.70%
Monaragala	Uva	158,435	69.01%	66,803	29.10%	4,346	1.89%	77.12%
Ratnapura	Sabaragamuwa	377,734	63.76%	203,566	34.36%	11,126	1.88%	81.24%
Kegalle	Sabaragamuwa	296,639	61.80%	174,877	36.44%	8,448	1.76%	78.76%

National results

 Summary of the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election^[67]

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Mahinda Rajapaksa	United People's Freedom Alliance	6,015,934	57.88%
	Sarath Fonseka	New Democratic Front	4,173,185	40.15%
	Mohomad Cassim Mohomad Ismail	Democratic United National Front	39,226	0.38%
	Achala Ashoka Suraweera	National Development Front	26,266	0.25%
	Channa Janaka Sugathsiri Gamage	United Democratic Front	23,290	0.22%
	W. V. Mahiman Ranjith	Independent	18,747	0.18%
	A. S. P Liyanage	Sri Lanka Labour Party	14,220	0.14%
	Sarath Manamendra	New Sinhala Heritage	9,684	0.09%
	M. K. Shivajilingam	Independent	9,662	0.09%
	Ukkubanda Wijekoon	Independent	9,381	0.09%
	Lal Perera	Our National Front	9,353	0.09%
	Siritunga Jayasuriya	United Socialist Party	8,352	0.08%
	Vikramabahu Karunaratne	Left Front	7,055	0.07%
	Aithurus M. Illias	Independent	6,131	0.06%
	Wije Dias	Socialist Equality Party	4,195	0.04%
	Sanath Pinnaduwa	National Alliance	3,523	0.03%
	M. Mohamed Musthaffa	Independent	3,134	0.03%
	Battaramulle Seelarathana Thero	Jana Setha Peramuna	2,770	0.03%
	Senaratna de Silva	Patriotic National Front	2,620	0.03%
	Aruna de Zoyza	Ruhuna People's Party	2,618	0.03%
	Upali Sarath Kongahage	United National Alternative Front	2,260	0.02%
	Muthu Bandara Theminimulla	All Are Citizens, All Are Kings Organisation	2,007	0.02%
Valid Votes			10,393,613	100.00%
Rejected Votes			101,838
Total Polled			10,495,451
Registered Electors			14,088,500
Turnout			74.50%

Maps

• 
  Winners of polling divisions
• 
  Winners of electoral districts
• 
  Majorities according to polling divisions
• 
  Majorities according to electoral districts

Fraud concerns

Election observers and advocacy groups have questioned the fundamental fairness of the campaign, accusing Mr. Rajapaksa of using state resources to finance his run. State-owned news media all but shut out opposition candidates.^[68][69][70] Election commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said the state media violated his guidelines, government institutions misbehaved, and he asked for approval to resign: "I request to be released," he said, just after he announced the results.

Post-election events

On the morning of 27 January, the Sri Lankan military surrounded a hotel where Fonseka and a number of opposition politicians had convened. The military claimed that 400 armed army deserters had gathered there, and demanded their surrender.^[71] Fonseka accused the military of preparing to arrest him if he won the elections. However, according to a military spokesman, they were there merely as a preventive measure, as the purpose of the gathering was uncertain.^[72] The military later arrested 10 men, who the opposition claimed were members of Fonseka's security contingent and not army deserters.^[73]

Plot to assassinate Rajapaska and government officers

At a press briefing held on Thursday, 28 January, the Director of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, told reporters that Gen. Fonseka moved into the hotel with over 70 retired army officers and deserters to plot the assassination of victorious President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family.^[74] The Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence reported that they were still looking for evidence to prove Mr. Fonseka's involvement.^[75]

International reaction

•  India – President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday congratulated Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his re-election and expressed confidence that the country would find lasting peace in which all communities would live with dignity and harmony. President Patil said, "I am confident that under your continued leadership, Sri Lanka will attain greater heights and find lasting peace." Prime Minister Singh said Rajapaksa's electoral success "is a reflection of the trust" the people of Sri Lanka had placed in him.^[76]
• Palestinian Popular Struggle Front – The Front sent a letter in support of President Rajapaksa. "On behalf of the Palestinians in and out of Palestine, (we) express (our) grateful thanks to President Mahinda Rajapasksa, who has been fighting for the Palestinians during the last 40 years."^[77]
•  United Nations – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday voiced relief that Sri Lanka's presidential polls went off relatively peacefully, and urged the country's political parties to abide by the official results. Secretary-General Ban stated, "I had been concerned at the level of violence during the campaign. I am relieved that the vote yesterday appears to have been relatively peaceful, despite some violent incidents."^[78]
• United States Department of State – The United States Embassy in Colombo release a statement which read, "The United States congratulates Sri Lanka for the first nationwide election in decades and President Rajapaksa on his victory. We look forward to continuing the partnership between our two countries and working with the Government and the people to support a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka."^[79] State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters, "I think it is remarkable when you consider what Sri Lanka has come through recently. There is a process for resolving electoral disputes. We're obviously aware that there have been claims of victory and counterclaims" and ruled out further comment at that time.^[80][81]
•  Russia – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his congratulation message says that the policy been conducted by the president aimed at economic development and strengthening of stability will continue to settle social and political issues in the country.^[15]
•  Japan – The Government of Japan has congratulated President Mahinda Rajapaksa on his victory at the recently concluded presidential election. Katsuya Okada, Japanese Foreign Minister, issuing a communique, states that the Japanese government hopes the resettlement of displaced persons will be expedited in a country that has shown steady progress.^[82]
•    Nepal – Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala has congratulated incumbent Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for his victory in the presidential election of Sri Lanka for the second time. He further went on to say "Your victory to the post of President is the result of your vital role to the establishment of peace, ending longtime armed conflict in Sri Lanka". He expressed his confidence that the peace and human rights would be institutionalised during Rajapaksa's term of office.^[83]
•  Viet Nam – Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga congratulated Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election as president. "We hope the Sri Lankan people, under the clear-sighted leadership of Mahinda Rajapaksa, will attain still greater achievements in national reconstruction and development," she said.^[84]
•  EU – Welcoming the peaceful conduct of Presidential polls in Sri Lanka, the European Union today promised all out support for bringing political reconciliation in the country ravaged by decades of ethnic conflict. Congratulating President Mahinda Rajapaksa for winning the 26 January polls, it "welcomed that the Presidential Elections in Sri Lanka, the first election of this kind for many years, took place in an overall peaceful environment.^[85]
•  Norway – Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim has congratulated President Mahinda Rajapakse on his re-election on 26 January. In his message Solheim stated that "I would like to congratulate President Rajapakse. Norway and Sri Lanka enjoy close and longstanding bilateral relations. We intend to continue our cooperation with the Government and people of Sri Lanka with a view to promoting lasting peace and development, We note that the election itself was relatively peaceful. However, we are concerned by reports of unrest and violent incidents during the lead-up to the election, as well as of possible violations of the election law. We urge that these allegations be investigated in accordance with Sri Lankan law and the country’s democratic traditions."^[86]

Notes

1. Common Opposition led by the United National Party

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External links

Official site

• Office of the President of Sri Lanka
• Department of Elections

Election monitors

• Centre for Monitoring Election Violence
• Island Election Center

Media

• Twenty-two candidates for Lanka presidential election – Radio France Internationale in English

Election manifesto

• "Mahinda's Vision II - Brighter Future" - Election manifesto of Mahinda Rajapaksa (English)
• "Mahinda Chinthana II - Suba Anagathayak" - Election manifesto of Mahinda Rajapaksa (Sinhala)
• "Vishvasaneeya Venasak" - Election manifesto of Sarath Fonseka (Sinhala)
• "Vishvasaneeya Venasak" - Election manifesto of Sarath Fonseka (English)