Mahinda is President

PRIME MINISTER Mahinda Rajapakse is Sri Lanka's new President. Rajapakse will be sworn-in as President at 12.30 p.m. today.

He was declared the country's fifth Executive President by Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake yesterday, concluding a gruelling Presidential Election campaign that pitted him against main rival Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The Premier, who turned 60 yesterday, emerged victor by a majority of 181,786 votes over Wickremesinghe at Thursday's election gaining 4,887,152 votes. Wickremesinghe received 4,706,366 votes.

The Premier bagged 11 of the 22 districts outside the North-East with the rest going to his rival. In all he won 93 of the 160 electorates. There was minimal polling by voters from uncleared areas in line with a call by the LTTE to disregard the poll.

The nation celebrated the victory with firecrackers and mass rejoicing while many homes and business places hoisted national flags in keeping with an election eve request by the Premier. No curfew was imposed following the election and no incidents were reported except for one incident at Kalmunai.

The President elect scored runway victories in his home turf in the South obtaining 63 per cent of the vote in his pocket borough Hambantota.

He also made inroads into several UNP strongholds like Dedigama, Mawathagama and Kuliyapitiya.

He also swept the board in Gampaha the Bandaranaike bastion and won the Catholic strongholds of Ja-ela, Katana and Wennappuwa with ease. The Premier also scored unexpected victories in Moratuwa and Ratmalana in the Colombo District.

President-elect Rajapakse was born on November 18, 1945 in Weeraketiya. He was educated at Richmond College, Galle, Nalanda College, Colombo and Thurstan College, Colombo.

The Southern electorate first voted for Rajapakse in 1970, making him - then aged 24 - the country's youngest ever MP. The Southern vote weighed heavily in favour of Rajapakse in Thursday's poll.

Rajapakse has matured into a seasoned politician described on his website as "a rebel with a cause". He is seen as a man of the masses.

He has identified himself with the common man on many issues such as unemployment, cost of living and poverty, which figure prominently in his "Mahinda Chintana" election manifesto.

Rajapakse comes from a political family - his father, D.A. Rajapakse, represented the same region of Hambantota from 1947 to 1965. In fact, Rajapakse and voted on Thursday at a school named after his father in Weeraketiya. He is married to Shiranthi Rajapakse. They have three sons.

As Labour Minister in the first Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga term, Rajapakse tried to push through legislation to guarantee the rights of workers through a Workers Charter.

While in charge of fisheries and ports, he became popular for his scheme to build new houses for slum-dwelling fishermen.

Until his appointment as Prime Minister in April 2004, he was Opposition Leader. While in Opposition, he organised mass protests against the Government on issues such as the cost of living.

In addition to holding the post of Premier, he also held the portfolio of Highways.

He launched an islandwide project titled Maga Neguma to rebuild the country's road network and worked closely with the Ministers of Transport and Railways.

Rajapakse was the Sri Lanka Freedom Party's unanimous choice as Presidential candidate. He was backed by 27 parties including the JVP and the JHU.