拉賈帕克薩敗選預示斯里蘭卡邁入新時代
As former president Mahinda Rajapaksa comes to terms with his second electorAl defeat in eight months, many in Sri Lanka are also predicting what once seemed unthinkable: the final political demise of a leader who, until just a year ago, seemed to hold an iron grip on their country.
斯里蘭卡前總統馬欣達拉賈帕克薩(Mahinda Rajapaksa)不得不接受8個月內第二次在選舉中落敗的事實。與此同時，在許多斯里蘭卡人的預期中，出現了一度似乎不可想象的一幕：一位在短短一年前似乎還嚴密掌控着國家權柄的領導人，就要走上政治末路。
Mr Rajapaksa hoped Tuesday’s result would herald an unlikely comeback — allowing him to seize the office of prime minister while simultaneously avenging his downfall at the hands of former party ally Maithripala Sirisena in presidential elections in January.
拉賈帕克薩曾希望，週二公佈的選舉結果能讓他可能性不大的東山再起夢想成真，讓他能在奪取總理寶座的同時，報今年1月在總統選舉中被前黨內盟友邁特里帕拉纏裏塞納(Maithripala Sirisena)趕下臺的一箭之仇。
Instead, his Sri Lanka Freedom party trailed in second behind the centre-right United National party. The result leaves the UNP's Ranil Wickremesinghe set to return as prime minister, having claimed victory on Tuesday, and form a new coalition government in the island’s 225-member parliament. Analysts say Mr Rajapaksa’s departure — after a 10-year rule — could herald a new era, one in which Sri Lanka faces up to brutality of its past and distances itself from its once cosy relationship with Beijing.
然而事與願違，他領導的斯里蘭卡自由黨(Freedom party)在此次選舉中落在中右翼統一國民黨(United National party)之後，屈居第二。這一結果令統一國民黨的拉尼爾維克勒馬辛哈(Ranil Wickremesinghe)得以迴歸總理寶座，並在斯里蘭卡225人組成的議會中構建新的聯合政府。維克勒馬辛哈已在週二宣佈勝選。分析人士表示，拉賈帕克薩在統治斯里蘭卡十年後離開政治舞臺，或預示着斯里蘭卡邁入新時代。在這個新時代裏，斯里蘭卡將直面過去的殘暴行徑，並淡化與中國一度十分親密的關係。
As in January's contest, Mr Rajapaksa’s appeals to the Sinhalese-speaking Buddhist majority failed to rack up enough votes to overcome more liberal-minded urban voters, alongside those backing Tamil parties, which won overwhelmingly in the island’s north.
和今年1月的選舉一樣，拉賈帕克薩對占人口多數的講僧伽羅語的佛教徒的拉攏，未能爲他帶來足夠的選票，以擊敗思想傾向自由主義的城市選民以及那些支持泰米爾黨派的選民。在斯里蘭卡北部，泰米爾黨派取得了壓倒性勝利。
At a deeper level, however, analysts said the result represented a rejection of the muscular nationalism embodied by Mr Rajapaksa's rule, borne of his role as victor in the island's civil war, which ended in a crushing defeat for the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.
不過，分析人士表示，這一選舉結果從更深層次來說，意味着對拉賈帕克薩統治所體現的強硬民族主義的拒絕。拉賈帕克薩是以斯里蘭卡內戰勝利者身份確立這種統治的。2009年，這場內戰以泰米爾猛虎組織(Tamil Tiger)叛軍的全面失敗告終。
“The hope must now be that a double defeat means Sri Lanka can move on, and begin to solve some of the issues of post-war reconciliation and devolution of power that have been so difficult,” says Alan Keenan of the International Crisis Group.
國際危機組織(International Crisis Group)的艾倫蘒塊(Alan Keenan)表示：“目前的全部希望在於，（拉賈帕克薩的）二次落敗意味着斯里蘭卡能夠走出過去的陰影，着手解決部分戰後和解與權力下放問題。這些問題一直難以得到解決。”
Making good on promises of better governance will be one early challenge, and one of direct interest to Mr Rajapaksa himself, as he braces for an array of corruption investigations. Opponents claim the Rajapaksa’s family-dominated regime siphoned away huge sums during its decade in power, including from the many Chinese-backed infrastructure schemes that symbolised Sri Lanka’s post-war economic boom.
兌現改善治理的承諾，將是這一時代面臨的早期挑戰之一，也關係到拉賈帕克薩的切身利益。拉賈帕克薩即將接受一系列反腐調查。反對者稱，在拉賈帕克薩掌權的十年期間，由他家族把持的政權黑掉了不少錢，包括從中國投資的基建計劃中黑走的錢。這些計劃曾是斯里蘭卡戰後經濟繁榮的象徵。
Instead, Mr Wickremesinghe talks of a market-friendly economic policy, placing less emphasis on financial ties with China, and more on tempting global companies to use the south Asian island as a base for export-led manufacturing. He is likely to keep rebalancing Sri Lanka’s international relations too, patching up ties with India and the west after a decade in which Mr Rajapaksa cosied up to Beijing.
而維克勒馬辛哈談論的是親市場的經濟政策，對斯中金融合作強調得要少一些，更側重於吸引全球企業將這個南亞島國用作出口導向型製造業的基地。他可能還會繼續努力再平衡斯里蘭卡的國際關係，在拉賈帕克薩奉行親中國政策十年之後，修補斯里蘭卡與印度及西方的關係。
