Word: rajapaksas
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...RAJAPAKSA RE-ELECTED...
Upending predictions that Sri Lanka's first election since the end of its civil war would be a close fight, President Mahinda Rajapaksa easily beat his challenger, retired army commander General Sarath Fonseka, a former ally in the military victory over the separatist Tamil Tigers. The results of the largely peaceful election, announced Jan. 27, showed the President leading with 58% of the vote. Fonseka immediately rejected the results, alleging vote rigging, and claimed his life was under threat from the government...
...government has previously accused Fonseka of organizing a coup and planning to assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa and two of his brothers, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and member of parliament Basil Rajapaksa. Fonseka, who was once a powerful ally of Rajapaksa, led the military campaign that defeated the Tamil separatist insurgency last May. Soon after, he was named Chief of Defence Staff - a move that sidelined him and left him without any effective command. Fonseka later fell out with the Rajapaksa government and put himself forward as the opposition candidate in last month's elections. (See a bio of Mahinda Rajapaksa...
...Despite predictions that the contest would be a close one, Rajapaksa won by a comfortable 1.8 million votes. But Fonseka did not go quietly. He has accused the government of harassment after the defeat and was meeting with opposition political leaders when military police arrived at his house Monday night. Witnesses at the scene told TIME that Fonseka had informed the military that he wanted police to be present when the arrest was made, but despite his protests, he was taken away by military police...
...There is no democracy. This government is behaving like murderers." - Sarath Fonseka, Rajapaksa's challenger in the 2010 election, after the election results were announced. He immediately rejected the results, alleging vote rigging, and claimed his life was under threat from the government (TIME...