Sri Lankan PM wins presidential election

18/11/2005 - 07:57:21
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse won Sri Lanka’s presidential election by a slim margin, the country’s election commissioner said today.

With all ballots counted, Rajapakse received 4.88 million votes, or 50.29% of the total 9.7 million valid votes cast, said Election Commissioner Danyananda Dissanayake.

Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe received 4.70 million, or 48.38 per cent.

The announcement was made at the election commission’s office and Rajapakse was shown smiling and nodding as the result was read out.