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Sri Lankan President Wins Re-election

   State  TV  said  President  Mahinda Rajapaksa defeated his main rival,
   former military chief Sarath Fonseka

   VOA News 27 January 2010
   Sri  Lankan  president  Mahinda  Rajapaksa  arrives  with  a  group of
   children  during  the launch of his election manifesto in Colombo, Sri
   Lanka, Monday, 11 Jan 2010

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

   Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa

   Sri Lankan state television says incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa
   has won Tuesday's presidential election.
   Official  final  results  have  not  been announced, but early results
   showed  Mr.  Rajapaksa with more 60 percent of the vote, to 36 percent
   for his main rival, former military chief Sarath Fonseka.
   A  Sri Lankan military spokesman said government troops surrounded the
   central Colombo hotel where General Fonseka is staying Wednesday.  The
   spokesman  said  there are about 400 people, including army deserters,
   who  gathered  at  the  hotel  after  the  election  in support of the
   general.
   The  election  was  a fierce battle between the two men considered war
   heroes   by   the   country's   Sinhalese   majority   for  winning  a
   quarter-century civil war against minority Tamil rebels.
   Following  a  campaign  marred  with  violence, Tuesday's election was
   largely peaceful. There are 14 million registered voters in Sri Lanka,
   and officials say the overall voting turnout was around 70 percent.
   On  Tuesday,  the  government  said  it  planned  to take legal action
   against  the general's candidacy because he is not a registered voter.
   Within  hours  of  the  polls closing Tuesday, Foreign Minister Rohita
   Bogollogama  said  the  government  will  go  to  court to declare him
   ineligible to run for president.
   Fonseka  admitted he did not vote in the presidential poll because his
   name was not on the voter registration list.  But he said that despite
   the  glitch,  he  is  legally  qualified  to  be  elected and serve as
   president.
   Sri  Lanka's  election  commissioner  Dayananada Dissanayaka supported
   General  Fonseka's  interpretation.   But government officials said it
   will be up to the courts to make a legal ruling on the matter.
   Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, AFP and AP

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