Friday, 16th January 2015
SRI LANKAN President Mahinda Rajapaksa considered himself a shoo- in to win an unprecedented third term when he called an early election in November, and with some reason: He had presided over both victory in a 26-year-long civil war with Tamil insurgents and surging economic growth of 7 percent a year. The opposition had been cowed and criticism squelched by increasingly autocratic tactics.
Consequently, Mr. Rajapaksa's surprising defeat by a former member of his cabinet, Maithripala Sirisena, after an election in which 81 percent of voters participated, can only be taken as an impressive demonstration of Sri Lankans' commitment to preserving their long-standing democracy. Mr. Sirisena, who was sworn in Friday, has pledged to seek a swift constitutional reform that would strip the presidency of powers and create a parliamentary system. …
