President - Sri Lanka - Mahinda Rajapakse, prime minister at the time of his election, won the November 2005 presidential poll by a narrow margin. His main rival was the opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Mahinda Rajapakse has signalled a tough stance against rebels Mr Rajapakse was backed by Marxist and Buddhist parties in the government. He also benefited from an extremely low turnout by Tamils in the north and east. But he inherited a troubled economy and a faltering peace process. During campaigning he promised to take a hard line in any peace talks with Tamil Tiger rebels and said he would seek direct talks with the group's leader. He says the solution to the conflict lies in a unitary state. Mr Rajapakse, a Buddhist lawyer, became prime minister in 2004, heading a heavily-polarised parliament. He served under Chandrika Bandaranaike-Kumaratunga, president since 1994. She had backed economic liberalisation while in office but government rifts slowed the pace of change. Her coalition was also divided over the Tamil peace process. The former president pursued a twin-track approach during the civil war, trying to offer the Tamil rebels some form of autonomy while seeking the upper hand on the battlefield. However, she accused the government of making too many concessions to the rebels and tensions over the peace process led to a bitter power struggle with the then prime minister, Ranil Wickramasinghe, in 2003. The Sri Lankan president can appoint and dismiss the prime minister, and can dissolve parliament.