Sri Lanka's future after the historic election

Singapore

WHEN Mahinda Rajapaksa called for an early presidential election last November, with no strong opposition candidate, his victory was clear. But a week after this announcement, Maithripala Sirisena announced his resignation as health minister to stand as a presidential candidate and changed the course of Sri Lanka's history.

In a historic turn, about 40 political parties jointly chose him as a common candidate to run against Mr Rajapaksa. Two months later, amid huge public celebrations, Jan 9, 2015, saw the shocking end of a decade-long rule by Mr Rajapaksa and the swearing in of Mr Sirisena as the seventh president of Sri Lanka.

Due to its strategic location, Sri Lanka's presidential election was also of heightened foreign interest. The whole world watched closely to see how the ele…