PM-elect has unity plans for Sri Lanka

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted Ranil Wickremesinghe as he tweeted: “Congratulations & best wishes to Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe on being sworn-in as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister”. The president became a key factor in the parliamentary election with his announcement that he would not appoint Rajapakse as the prime minister even if he and his UPFA won the poll.

Rajapaksa was defeated earlier this year in the Sri Lankan presidential race by his former cabinet member, Maithripala Sirisena, but tried to make a comeback as prime minister.

“The overall notion is that the rationale why he’s contesting shouldn’t be for the good thing about the nation however to delay or cease the investigations into corruption and abuses”, stated Muttukrishna Sarvananthan, founding father of the Level Pedro Institute of Improvement, a analysis group in northern Sri Lanka. Dr Godfrey Gunetilleke, Chair Emeritus of the Marga Institute, an independent think tank, noted that both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe explicitly said during the presidential and parliamentary election campaigns that they would try to form a national government.

The main opposition party the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that is an alliance led by Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to secure 95 seats with 42 percent of votes casted or about 47 lakh votes.

Sri Lanka’s new parliament is expected to convene on September 1.

Incidentally, Rajapaksa not only pursued a nationalist, Singhalese policy, but also one of intolerance towards any opposition towards him and his corrupt regime.

“I have got a mandate to put our plan before Parliament, so that we could arrive at a consensus and build a national framework within which we will do our politics”, he said, striking a reconciliatory note.

Wickremesinghe’s United National Party and Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party signed an agreement to work together in the new parliament.

66-year-old veteran reformist was handpicked by President Maithripala Sirisena to lead a minority government after the ouster of longtime president Mahinda Rajapaksa in January. After referring to the economic problems produced by rising national debt and low tax revenue, he said the new government would prepare the way for full currency convertibility and usher in a “radically different set of rules”.

“The new government also needs to address long standing grievances of the Tamils”.

Rajapaksa accepted his defeat “with humility” but rebuffed calls by his opponents to retire from active politics. He was sworn in front of President Mathripala Sirisena. “Our people-to-people links are strong, and Singaporean and Sri Lankan businesses have shown growing interest in exploring the opportunities in each other’s countries”, Mr Lee wrote.