(CNN)Sri Lanka's current president Mahinda Rajapaksa has conceded defeat to rival Maithripala Sirisena in the country's presidential election, bringing an end to a decade of leadership increasingly criticized as corrupt and nepotistic. Rajapaksa acknowledged the defeat on his official Twitter account Friday, writing: "I value and respect our democratic process and the people's verdict, and look forward to the peaceful transition of power." Sirisena would be sworn in at 6 p.m. local time in Colombo's Independence Square, Dhanushka Ramanayake, the head of his media unit, said. The defeat of the once untouchable president, the longest-serving political leader in the region, was the result of a failed electoral gamble.
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Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa concedes defeat to rival in presidential elections
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Maithripala Sirisena was minister in Rajapaksa's cabinet before defecting
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A farmer turned politician, he has support of minorities and has pledged reform
"@placeholder not only has this coalition to hold together, he has to do so having promised a fast-track program of drastic political reform," he said.