Alyssa Ayres-1/09/2015
In a stunning upset today, Sri Lanka’s Maithripala Sirisena defeated ten-year incumbent strongman President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sirisena is a former member of President Rajapaksa’s cabinet who defected, with more than 20 other members of parliament, to lead an umbrella opposition coalition just two months ago. Rajapaksa
conceded with the vote count still underway; at the time of his concession early on Friday morning, the election results
posted showed a nearly 52% lead for Sirisena against almost 47% for Rajapaksa.
