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Colombo:
Sri Lanka on Thursday started counting votes for a parliament election which President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s celebration is broadly anticipated to win, cementing his grip on energy.
Close to 70% of eligible Sri Lankans voted in Wednesday’s election to the 225-member parliament, shrugging off fears of coronavirus.
Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya stated counting had began at 9 a.m. native time (0330 GMT) and the primary outcomes had been anticipated late afternoon with the ultimate tally coming in round midnight.
Rajapaksa is hoping to put in his older brother who can be a former president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as prime minister. The brothers are finest recognized for crushing Tamil Tiger rebels preventing for a separate homeland for minority Tamils throughout the elder Rajapaksa’s presidency in 2009.
President Rajapaksa stated he was happy by the voting on Wednesday. “As the first South Asian country to hold general elections amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it reflects the confidence that the people have in our efforts to control this pandemic,” he stated.”
The tourism-dependent island nation of 21 million individuals has been struggling since lethal assaults on resorts and church buildings final 12 months adopted by lockdowns to gradual the unfold of the coronavirus.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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