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Tsunami & After

Mahinda Rajapakse wins Sri Lanka election

     Colombo: Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has won the presidential election by a close margin of little over 50 per cent against Ranil Wickremesinghe. According to the final result declared by the Sri Lanka Election Commission, Rajapakse of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) won by a margin of 50.33 percent by receiving 4,880,950 votes, about 180,000 votes ahead of his closest rival Wickramasinghe. "I declare Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse as the winner of the presidential election," Chief Election Officer Dayananda Dissanayake told reporters here today. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also conveyed the result to all 13 candidates who contested for the post. In his manifesto announced prior to the poll, Rajapakse had promised to uphold the current ceasefire agreement with Tiger rebels and had inclination towards subsidies for farmers besides opposing privatisation, which are considered to have played the principal role in his victory. Rajapakse will now take over the charge of his office from the outgoing President Chandrika Kumaratunga who has held the post twice, within two weeks.