Sri Lankan President sworn in at the auspicious time of 10.16 am

The second term of office of President Mahinda Rajapaksa started at the auspicious time of 10.16 am when he was sworn in today – Friday 19

November before the Chief Justice Asoka De Silva at the Presidential Secretariat. Following the swearing in the President will address the nation from the Presidential Secretariat where this historic even took place.

President’s Secretary Mr Lalith Weerathunga read out the proclamation in all three languages Sinhala, Tamil and English. Special representatives from Bhutan, China, Maldives and Pakistan are among a large number of official foreign representatives attended the ceremony in Colombo

Among them are Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley together with a 18 member delegation, Special Envoy of the Chinese President, Sang Giuowei and Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Hu Zhengyue, a delegation led by Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed with special envoy to the President Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, Maldives Democratic Party Chairperson Mariya Ahamed Didi (MP) and Minority Leader of the People’s Majlis Moosa Maruku, and Chairman of the

Pakistani Senate Farook Hamid Naek and State Minister Saleem Mandviwalla.

Congratulatory messages were also being sent by several world leaders on the occasion of the assumption of office by President Rajapaksa for his second term. President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the fifth Executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, credited internationally for liberating the country from decades of brutal terrorism, has restored peace across the island nation and set the country on the path to rapid socio-economic development.

President Rajapaksa’s vision for Sri Lanka is to deliver sustainable peace and prosperity for all and his economic policy has paved the way for the 20 million nation to become the owners of its economic resources once again. President Mahinda Rajapaksa commissioning the second international seaport named after him said that during the last five years he has put the country in order. The government has buy back several key economic installations that were privatized during past regimes. The national carrier SriLankan airlines and the Shell Gas are the two key enterprises that were bought back by the government in the recent past. Several key public sector institutions had been privatized in the past.

Under his leadership President Rajapaksa is heavily involved in

driving forward the country’s reconciliation programme having launched

a thorough investigation the causes for the breakdown of the Ceasefire

of 2002, and the progress of the humanitarian operation to free the

Tamil people and Sri Lanka from the LTTE, and ensure restorative

justice to those affected by the conflict. Speedy action has also been

taken to resettle the internally displaced persons.

Remarkable economic progress has been made under President Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka recorded an economic growth rate of 8.5 percent in the

second quarter of 2010. Analyst anticipate an over 8 percent GDP

growth in 2010.

And on the world stage Sri Lanka is making its mark as an exciting new

nation in which to invest and one where tourism opportunities will

grow. Huge developments are being designed and constructed, with

particular emphasis on the war torn north and east of the island.

President Rajapaksa established a record in Sri Lankan political

history when he led his party to a landslide victory in the

Parliamentary Elections held two months after being elected for a

second term of office as Executive President. His overwhelming

majority was 1.8 million in a poll of six million votes.

His success in Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in January and

April, 2010 came after a series of sweeping victories in elections to

eight Provincial Councils by the United People’s Freedom Alliance

(UPFA) led by him. The UPFA now has an over two thirds majority in

Parliament.

Born on November 18, 1945, Mahinda Rajapaksa is a lawyer by

profession. He was first elected to the Parliament in 1970 as the

youngest member of Parliament at the age 24.

He is married to Shiranthi Wickramasinghe Rajapaksa and has three children.

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