He told AFP that his dream of becoming prime minister of Sri Lanka had faded.
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The two-time president was quoted in the media reports as saying that he conceded defeat “after a good fight”.
Wickremesinghe’s UNF won in 11 of the country’s 22 districts while the UPFA triumphed in eight and the TNA – formerly the political arm of the now vanquished Tamil Tigers – in three districts.
A senior Rajapaksa ally was more fatalistic: “We have lost the election”, Udaya Prabhath Gammanpila, who was contesting in Colombo, said in a Facebook post. “It was a hard fight”.
United National Party (UNP) led United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) coalition on 18 August 2015 with 106 seats emerged as the victor in the 2015 Parliamentary elections of Sri Lanka.
Election officials said they expected to release final party positions by noon Tuesday (local time), while individual votes garnered by candidates would be announced later.
Sirisena was force to grand nominations to former president due to the pressure inside the party, but openly stated his disgust over Rajapaksa’s return.
Rajapaksa who lost the presidency in January to his former Health Minister, Maithripala Sirisena, won his seat as MP – but the results mean he will be staying on the opposition benches.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has applauded the people of Sri Lanka for their peaceful and broad-based participation in the parliamentary elections.
“I am confident that under Mr. Wickremesinghe’s leadership, bilateral ties between India & Sri Lanka will get strong”, Modi said in posts on his Twitter account.
A top aide to the prime minister said the statement amounted to a de facto declaration of victory but Wickremesinghe did not want to strike a triumphant tone.
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The UNP has gained votes in most polling divisions while the UPFA lost votes in comparison with the presidential election held in January. He then handed Rajapaksa a shock defeat in the polls. The Sri Lankan legislature contains 225 seats, with the remaining 29 allocated by proportional representation. “That also leaves questions about former president’s Rajapaksa’s political future, what he does next”. “We have to unitedly work towards lifting the nation to a new height by facing challenges of the new era”, the victorious prime minister stated in the statement.
