Sri Lankan President Concedes Defeat After Startling Upset

The New York Times ^ | 9.Jan.2015 | Ellen BArry and Darisha Bastians

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After a startling upset in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, President Mahinda Rajapaksa conceded defeat on Friday morning, bringing an abrupt end to a larger-than-life, increasingly controlling presidency that he had hoped to extend into a third six-year term.

Mr. Rajapaksa left his residence, Temple Trees, shortly after 6 a.m. “to allow the new president to assume his duties,” a presidential spokesman announced.

Mr. Rajapaksa’s defeat is remarkable because he had an overwhelming advantage going into the election, which he decided to hold two years ahead of schedule. During nearly a decade in office, he had built close ties with China, begun a campaign of “megadevelopment” and sharply centralized power in one of Asia’s oldest democracies

Over the past several years, Mr. Rajapaksa had steadily tightened his grip on power, amending the Constitution to eliminate term limits and dismissing a Supreme Court justice who resisted his changes. But he did so under favorable circumstances, riding a wave of popularity among majority Sinhalese after crushing a long-running Tamil insurgency in the north in 2009. Since that victory, Sri Lanka has benefited from a thriving tourist industry and had the highest economic growth rate in the region, leading many to conclude that voters would tolerate his consolidation of power.

[Cronos]

the Sri Lankan people reject authoritarianism and the man himself bows out gracefully.

This is incredible good news for Ceylonese democracy

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“Over the past several years, Mr. Rajapaksa had steadily tightened his grip on power, amending the Constitution to eliminate term limits and dismissing a Supreme Court justice who resisted his changes. But he did so under favorable circumstances, riding a wave of popularity among majority Sinhalese after crushing a long-running Tamil insurgency in the north in 2009.”

IMHO all positions of power attract people with severe personality disorders. That's not to say that all people who wind up in power have severe personality disorders, but all of these positions attract those with them. Just look at the lists of people who've run for the Presidency in the US, some successfully. When they are successful, they try to consolidate power, and they are dangerous. I won't happen, but maybe we should be psychologically profiling those who run for major office.