Sri Lanka's new government is to re-open the investigation into the killing of the editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge, President Sirisena's spokesperson said. Lasantha Wickrematunge, a Sinhala journalist who was very critical of the former President Rajapaksa, was killed in January 2008 . Promising freedom of the press, the new prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe said on Friday, the media is "free to report whatever you want without the fear of being abducted", The Guardian newspaper reported.
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) assured the new prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, that it would not allow "LTTE activities of protests against the army in the North", reports Colombo Gazette . According to the news site, Wickremasinghe said "he had also spoken to the TNA and the TNA was also against the LTTE flag being raised in the north and also want all issues resolved within a united Sri Lanka."
New government meets with Buddhist clergy in Kandy. Photographs @AHemmathagama Sri Lanka's new prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, assured the chief Buddhist clergy that security was tight in the Tamil area, dismissing reports of stones being pelted at army bases and the hoisting of Tamil Eelam flags shortly after the election victory of the common opposition's candidate, Maithripala Sirisena. Meeting the Buddhist clergy at a religious ceremony, along side President Sirisena and Chandrika Kumaratunge, in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy, Ranil said that such reports were "false and baseless".
The new president Maithripala Sirisena has assured the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family of full state protection, reports The Island . The new prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe reiterated these assurances, stating that Rajapaksa and his brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa would continue to receive the same level of security, the paper added.
The new president Maithripala Sirisena won because of the support of minority political parties that "basically worked on separatism" said the SLFP member and former government's spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella. Asked by the Sunday Leader what went wrong for Rajapaksa in the election, Rambukwella replied: "Nothing went wrong. If you look at the map won by President Maithripala you can see that is also very much equal to the Eelam map. That speaks all about it. It is not an accusation. Everybody has the right to vote. It is a matter that minority political parties basically worked on separatism. Because Sampanthan is seriously talking in parliament about the division of the country and at the same time they talk about full autonomy and federal system. Chandrika being a champion of federalism I won’t be surprised at the outcome. That made the difference. 450,000 votes came from the North and East."
President Maithripala Sirisena's spokesperson, Rajitha Senaratne, said Sri Lanka's new government will not hand over anyone to the international inquiry investigating allegations of war crimes committed against the Tamil people, but instead would hold a domestic independent inquiry and punish those found guilty locally. "I heard Sarath Fonseka say that mistakes happen during a war, but if accepted international laws are violated - like shooting people with white flags, killing those who surrendered - they will be punished, because you cannot kill those who have surrendered," Senaratne told BBC Sinhala , when asked what the new government would do if the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka found former president Mahinda Rajapaksa guilty of war crimes. "Even during the WW2 the fascist Japanese and Germans were given a trial and not shot against a wall. So no one can murder like that, there are local laws and international laws, but we will not hand over anyone for an international inquiry. We will investigate locally and do the needful here," he added.
Tamil National Alliance councillor Ananthy Sasitharan appealed to Pope Francis for assistance in locating a missing Catholic priest who was taken by the Sri Lankan army in 2009, alongside thousands of other cases of enforced disappearances. Writing ahead of the Pope's visit on January 13, Sasitharan said, "As a member of the Northern Provincial Council and as one of the affected victims, I urge Your Holiness to reach out for us in demanding a clear answer from the Sri Lankan Government and its military on what had happened to Rev Fr Francis Joseph, the hundreds of our family members and relatives who were taken into SLA custody on 18 May, 2009."
The Buddhist monks' political party, the JHU, rejected analysts stating the Tamil and Muslim vote was the deciding factor in Maithripala Sirisena's presidential win, claiming instead it was their voter base that was key. The JHU was part of the newly elected president's coalition of opposition parties along side the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC).
The Japanese government says it hopes for the promotion of "reconciliation, democracy and economic development" under the newly elected Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, in a statement congratulating him on his election victory. The statement also former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for the smooth transition of power, after he gave up office the day the election results were announced.
The Sri Lankan military's spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya rejected reports of army camps being stoned and the Tamil Eelam flag being raised in Jaffna following the presidential win of Maithripala Sirisena, and stressed that there was no threat to the military in the North. "Information spreading about several incidents like hoisting the L.T.T.E. flag in Jaffna, groups pelting stones at army camps and explosions are merely rumours spreading through social media," Wanigasooriya told Ceylon Today .