Former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa took an oath as a Prime Minister of the country for the fourth time on August 9, 2020. He took a hold of Prime Ministerial position after his party secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections.
Mahinda Rajapaksa was administered the oath by his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony held at the sacred Rajamaha Viharaya, which is a Buddhist temple in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb.
Mr. Rajapaksa has been credited with ending the decade long LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) war in 2009 under his presidency. In 2015, he had lost the presidential elections and later had made a strong political comeback.
I am humbled by the opportunity given to me to serve my people again. The trust #SriLankans afford me, inspires me to continue serving my nation. President @GotabayaR, the new @PodujanaParty govt. & I will ensure that #lka embarks on a progressive journey during our tenure. pic.twitter.com/We5KWAkGfL
— Mahinda Rajapaksa (@PresRajapaksa) August 9, 2020
Mahinda Rajapaksa in Power:
Mahinda Rajapaksa had served as President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015. Earlier than that, he also served as the Prime Minister from 2004 to 2005 and then again for a brief period in 2018 and 2019.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s party Sri Lanka Podujana Permauna (SLPP) had secured a stunning victory in the country’s parliamentary elections which was held on August 5, by winning 145 seats in 225 member parliament.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Permauna (SLPP) has received 6,853,693 votes. The party secured 128 electoral seats, with the 17 National list members which totaled to 145 seats in the parliament although shy of the two-thirds majority.
PM Narendra Modi congratulated Mahinda Rajapaksa:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier congratulated Mahinda Rajapaksa after his stunning victory in Sri Lankan Parliamentary elections.
Thank you, Prime Minister @PresRajapaksa! It was a pleasure to speak to you. Once again, many congratulations. We will work together to further advance all areas of bilateral cooperation and to take our special ties to ever newer heights. https://t.co/123ahoxlMo
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 6, 2020
He had spoken to his Sri Lankan counterpart and had congratulated him as the early results of the elections had indicated an impressive electoral performance by SLPP Party.
In his note, PM Modi mentioned working closely with Sri Lanka and on further enhancing the long-standing cooperation between the two countries.
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