Sri Lanka's president called on "all citizens to commit themselves to fulfill their respective duties towards the future of the motherland" in an address to the military on Saturday, as he warned of "foreign forces" and challenges to Sri Lanka.
"Our country face[s] diverse types of challenges through foreign forces, which were different to what we faced in the past," Maithripala Sirisena told soldiers at a passing out ceremony at a military academy in Diyatalawa on Saturday. He went on to specifically call on the security forces to commit to "their respective duties with an understanding of challenges before the motherland as well as its national security".
Sirisena has repeatedly spoken out against similar "foreign" threats, highlighting in particular alleged attempts to assassinate him and to take Sri Lankan soldiers to war crimes tribunals. The Sri Lankan president has said in several public statements that he would not allow international judges and prosecutors to partake in an accountability mechanism for crimes committed by Sri Lankan troops during the 2009 offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils.
His address came the day before another twist in the political turmoil of Colombo, with Sirisena appointing Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister.