Coup averted in Sri Lanka: New government

Sri Lanka’s new government on Sunday accused toppled strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa of having tried to stage a coup to cling to power after losing last week’s presidential election.

Mr Rajapaksa, South Asia’s longest-serving leader before being beaten in Thursday’s polls, had been widely praised for conceding defeat to Maithripala Sirisena before the final results were announced.

But a top aide to Mr Sirisena said that Mr Rajapaksa had in fact tried to persuade the Army and police chiefs to help him stay in office with the use of force.

“People think it was a peaceful transition. It was anything but,” Mangala Samaraweera, who is expected to be named as Mr Sirisena’s foreign minister, told a press conference. “The first thing the new Cabinet will investigate is the coup and conspiracy by President Rajapaksa. He stepped down only when the Army Chief and the police inspector-general (N.K. Illangakoon) refused to go along with him.” Mr Illangakoon was “very vocal and did not want to be a party to this coup” while Army Chief Daya Ratnayake also refused to deploy troops for Mr Rajapaksa to hold onto power, said Mr Samaraweera. The attorney-general’s department had also warned about “dangerous consequences,” he said.