President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday vowed to achieve lasting peace in Sri Lanka so that all communities can “live as one”, as he marked the first anniversary of being elected to office.
President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday vowed to achieve lasting peace in Sri Lanka so that all communities can “live as one”, as he marked the first anniversary of being elected to office. Mr Sirisena, who in a stunning upset defeated strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 polls, said he was satisfied with the reforms he introduced over the past year to achieve national reconciliation, including with minority Tamils. “We must not leave room for extremists both in the south and north. We have to make sure there will not be another war in this country,” Mr Sirisena said.
Mr Sirisena handed a shock defeat to Mr Rajap-aksa, having come forward as the Opposition challenger after breaking ranks with the two-time President. “I will ensure that children of north, south, west and east live happily in peace. My aim is to achieve lasting peace where all communities can live as one,” Mr Sirisena said.
He also pardoned a Tamil rebel who had been convicted on charges of trying to assassinate him over 10 years ago, officials said. The man, identified as Sivaraja Jenivan, was granted amnesty at a ceremony attended by Mr Sirisena in Colombo to mark the first anniversary of his election. “Ordered Presidential pardon to a prisoner who was serving time for attempting to assassinate me in 2005,” the President posted on twitter, along with a picture of him with the pardoned man. Jenivan was arrested in 2006 on suspicion of attempting to kill Sirisena, a senior Cabinet minister at the time, as part of a plan by the separatist LTTE to eliminate government politicians. He was one year into a 10-year jail term, having only been sentenced in 2015. The LTTE was crushed in a major military offensive that ended in May 2009 and since then no attacks have been blamed on the rebels who were known for their trademark suicide bombings. Mr Sirisena came to power last year on a promise to ensure reconciliation between his majority Sinhalese community and the minority Tamil and Muslim communities.
