The Presidential Election result shows that it has created a win-win situation to all three communities - Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Majority Sinhalese feel that they have won by re-electing President Mahinda Rajapaksha and majority Tamils and Muslims feel that they have shown their protest to the President by voting for opposition common candidate Sarath Fonseka.

Some people argue that this voting pattern has created polarization of ethnic communities. It is countered by some others they argue that in both sides all 3 communities have voted for southern candidates who pursued the war against the LTTE.

It is interesting to note the voting pattern of the electorates where Tamil speaking people have voted.  See the table below:

Presidential Elections 2010 – Summary of Results

Another argument is that the result show that the Tamil speaking people have rejected the Eelam project by  voting for two war heroes. They compare the results for their argument.  They say that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has obtained 226,000 votes from the entire North and East in the Presidential Election of 2005 has enhanced his vote-base to 346,000 an increase of 53 percent while the opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka has enhanced opposition votes received in 2005 by only 28 percent.

Out of the resident votes of nearly 1,500,000 almost 60 percent namely 888,000 voters from these two provinces have voted for two candidates who played the lead roles in crushing the LTTE. In addition, out of the 346,000 votes President Mahinda Rajapaksa received in the North and the East, 225,000 votes have come from the Tamil and Muslim areas, if the predominant Sinhala areas of Ampara, Pottuvil and Seruvila in the East are excluded.

An important factor is that the Northern voters by voting for two Southern candidates who spearheaded the destruction of the LTTE were conveying a message, namely that they were no longer willing to accommodate the Eelam project. They had done so with the largest number in 30 years turning up at the polls even as nearly 70 percent ignored the TNA’s campaign to have Fonseka elected President.

It would be incorrect to say that those who did not vote for President Rajapaksa were supporters of the Eelam project as some Sinhalese chauvinists try to prove. SLMC and TNA Alliance supported by DPF have garnered considerable Tamil speaking votes against the President.

It is noteworthy to mention that 4 million electors have not voted for the President. 40% of the island electorate is not a negligible number that the UPFA can simply dismiss. Theirs was largely protest vote against the President's style of governance. The message is loud and clear for the President to reconsider his style of governance and ethnic policy. The rest of the Tamil speaking people who voted for the President are also happy that their candidate has won. So it is a win-win result for all. Now it is time to transform this result to a win-win situation for nation building.