Presidential election of Sri Lanka to select the 6th president had been the hottest topic during the last few days. People thought it is a very important and special election because this was the 1st election after finishing the civil war.
Election was on the 26th of January 2010. There were 22 candidates. Mahinda Rajapaksha and Sarath Fonseka were the strongest candidates among them.
Rajapaksha was the elected president in Nov 2005 and was the candidate of the UPFA (United People's Freedom Alliance) while Genaral Fonseka the former commander of Sri Lankan Army was his main opponent.General Fonseka was the candidate of NDF (New Democratic Front) which included some of the main opposition parties like United National Party & Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna.
Sri Lankan elections have a history of violence and misuse of state resources. Officially there have been four murders during the run up to the election. And the government was accused for the misuse of state property during the election. Elections commissioner Mr. Dissanayake criticized the government saying that state owned television stations gave extensive coverage to Mahinda Rajapaksha campaign with little mention of other candidates.
On the 27th of January 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksha who was the elected president for 6 year term in nvember 2005 won the reelection receiving 57.88% of all votes casted while Genaral Sarath Fonseka got 40.15%.
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