Sri Lanka’s former defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa denied allegations there was an attempted coup by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, as it became clear he would lose on the night of the election.

Mr Rajapaksa admitted the attorney general, alongside the head of police and military commanders, were present at the president’s residence at Temple Trees on election night, but claimed they discussed whether measures needed to be imposed to ensure a calm post-election environment.

“Yes, the attorney general was called to Temple Trees but that was to discuss the matter of maintaining law and order such as whether it was necessary to impose a curfew, etc. because the opposition had publicly stated that it will surround Temple Trees. That was a situation that needed to be addressed,” he said in an interview with Daily Mirror.

“The AG is entitled to advise the government and if there was an attempt to stage a coup, do you think the AG would have been consulted?” Mr Rajapaksa asked, adding that the claims were “false and baseless” and intended to discredit the former regime.

“It’s nothing more than a political witch-hunt because it’s very clear that no such thing took place; even before all the results were announced the president and all his staff left Temple Trees,” he said.