Sri Lanka coalition suffers humiliation at local vote

Sri Lanka's ruling alliance was humiliated Sunday in local elections seen as a test of its leadership as the party of former strongman president Mahinda Rajapakse pulled off a stunning landslide victory, final results showed. The mid-term polls further strained the uneasy coalition between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as they face a resurgent challenger in Rajapakse's new party. Official results showed Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna -- SLPP or People's Front -- won 225 councils, or two thirds of the 340 up for grabs, at Saturday's election described by private poll monitors as the most peaceful in decades.

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