Sri Lanka: State-run media predicted Rajapaksa will surely win

Colombo, Jan 9: Sri Lanka's state-run Daily News said on Friday in an editorial written after the presidential election ended late on Thursday that incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa was sure of "a comfortable victory".

The English language daily said that Rajapaksa, "despite the hard-headed prejudices of the detractors and the international

is almost guaranteed a comfortable victory".

"An opposition victory, as we write, seems to be a figment of the imaginations of various interested parties," it said.

Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday conceded defeat in the presidential election after officials indicated a landslide win for opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.

Stunned by the setback in an election he called two years ahead of schedule anticipating a win, Rajapaksa did not make any public comment but an aide said he had accepted defeat.

Rajakpaksa's press officer said the president "concedes defeat and will ensure a smooth transition of power bowing to the wishes of the people".

He said Rajapaksa had left his official residence and that the new leader of the island nation would be sworn in later Friday.

Official results will be known later on Friday but Sirisena is expected to garner more than 50 percent of the over 11 million votes polled Thursday.

IANS