The gamble by Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa in calling a snap election has failed. The charismatic Rajapaksa, who had already served two terms and manipulated the constitution to seek a third, was defeated by his former ally and health minister, Maithripala Sirisena.
Rajapaksa is credited for ending the long-running civil war with the Tamil rebels and promoted prosperity, but perceived corruption in his administration had led to dropping throughout the rural areas, where his base lived. Rajapaksa also was engineering a new casino industry featuring integrated resorts. Crown Resorts and its founder, James Packer had committed to building a $400 million facility in Colombo, part of the ambitious Colombo Port City project. Sri Lanka already has a thriving gaming industry featuring small casinos with familiar names: Bellagio, Bally’s, Stardust, MGM and others.
But Rajapaksa’s plan to introduce large-scale casino resorts ran into opposition from Buddhist monks, part of his own constituency. And Sirisena has pledged if elected to cancel deals with Crown and others that would have moved the plans forward. While it’s unclear whether the new president will follow through with his promise, it’s clear that the drive for integrated resorts in Sri Lanka is at least on hold for the time being.
Also at risk with the Sirisena election are agreements with China to build ports in Sri Lanka as bases for Chinese merchants and warships. Sirisena is reportedly seeking closer ties with India, something Rajapaksa shunned.
