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GUNESEKERA: In Sri Lanka, voters’ interest - peace - carried the day

Sri Lanka's new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (centre) and his Prime Minister brother Mahinda Rajapaksa (left) stand for the national anthem before a ministerial swearing-in ceremony in Colombo on November 22, 2019. PHOTO | ISHARA S. KODIKARA | AFP

By  Darin Gunesekera

A determined and peaceful people, Sri Lankans overwhelmingly voted in Gotabhaya Rajapaksha as their new president. He was hitherto unknown in the region’s politics.

However, elections in Sri Lanka, like in many developing countries, are a domestic affair. The voter responds to his or her view of the world as it affects them and their family.

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