Sri Lanka Presidential Polls Gotabaya Rajapaksa Claims Victory As Sajith Premadasa Concedes Defeat

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s controversial wartime defence secretary, stormed to power on Sunday. Rajapaksa claimed victory in the Sri Lankan presidential polls after ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa conceded defeat. Rajapaksa, 70 defeated Premadasa, 52, seven months after Islamist extremist attacks that killed 269 people. Rajapaksa, who will succeed President Maithripala Sirisena will be the seventh executive president of Sri Lanka for five-year-term. He will be the second member from the Rajapaksa family to become the president. Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was the president from 2005 to 2015.