Will work with India for peace, prosperity: SL PM Mahinda Rajapaksa tells Modi
PM Mahinda said he would work with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for peace and prosperity for both countries and region
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s powerful and controversial Rajapaksa clan on Thursday tightened its grip on political power with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa administering oath to his elder sibling Mahinda as the new Prime Minister, amidst apprehensions among the minority Tamils and Muslims in the island nation.
Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed duties in his new capacity on Thursday itself. The 74-yearold leader will function as the Prime Minister of the caretaker cabinet until the general election in August 2020.
Mahinda took the oath as the new Prime Minister at the Presidential Secretariat, three days after Gotabaya was sworn in as the President.
Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, former President Maithripala Sirisena and a number of other political leaders were present on the occasion. This is Mahinda’s second innings as the Prime Minister. He was premier for a brief period in 2018 amidst a major political turmoil in the country.
Earlier in the day, Wickremesignhe formally tendered his resignation to President Gotabaya.
Wickremesignhe announced his resignation on Wednesday following the presidential election debacle of his United National Party (UNP).
Gotabaya defeated UNP’’s Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa in the presidential election held on November 16.
Soon after he was sworn in as the President, Gotabhaya thanked the powerful Buddhist clergy for backing his presidential bid and vowed to protect all communities, while giving foremost priority to Buddhism. He also thanked the Sinhala-majority people for electing him.
Mahinda thanks Modi Meanwhile, Mahinda said that he would work with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for peace and prosperity for both the countries and the region. Thanking Prime Minister Modi for his congratulatory message, Mahinda said the two countries will continue to work closely to strengthen the bilateral ties.
“Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let us continue to promote our shared partnership for peace and prosperity for both our countries and the region,” he said in a tweet.
Earlier, Modi congratulated him on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, saying he looks forward to work with him to further strengthen relations between the two nations.
Murali tipped as NP Governor Muttiah Muralitharan, the legendary Sri Lanka off-spinner, is tipped as a Governor of Northern Province (NP) following the presidential elections that gave a clear majority to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former Defence Minister of the island nation who in his term defeated Tamil insurgency headed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, media reports here said, citing anger in the Tamil minority community.
Murali, who scalped 800 Test wickets, is actually an Indian Tamil from Kandy. While no official confirmation is out so far, local Tamils are believed to oppose Murali’s appointement the cricketer had backed Gotabaya when he was the Defence Secretary between 2005 and 2015 and was accused of war crimes.