The search for a “strong leader” in Sri Lanka had begun in earnest soon after the deadly Easter Sunday terror attacks. The Islamic State inspired strikes in different churches and luxury hotels in April had killed more than 250 people and crippled the tourism industry that employed nearly 500,000 Sri Lankans. Furthermore, it had seriously shaken the confidence of the nation and ripped open the fissures in a society, prone to long spells of religious and ethnic strife.