Updated 1600 GMT

Sri Lanka’s latest president Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to lead the government based on “Buddhist philosophy” and paid tribute to his Sinhalese voters, as he took up the office of president in an overtly religious Buddhist ceremony in Anuradhapura today.

In the wake of Sri Lanka’s presidential elections this weekend, fear has gripped the North-East. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the man who engineered the massacres of tens of thousands of Tamils a decade ago, is back in power. This time, he occupies the highest office in the land. The result, though unsurprising, is terrifying.

The Sri Lankan presidential elections were watched closely by journalists and human rights observers around the world, with much being written and broadcast during the campaign period, and much more expected in the aftermath of the result.

The Telegraph today captured the fear which rippled through the Tamil North-East, which voted overwhelmingly against Rajapaksa, with record numbers coming out to deliver over 80% of the vote to Sajith Premadasa. Qadijah Irshad speaking to Tamils in the North writes:

<p>Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe,&nbsp;said that he will make a decision on&nbsp;parliamentary elections after having&nbsp;discussions with the Speaker, Karu&nbsp;Jayasuriya, party leaders and other Parliamentarians.&nbsp;</p> <p>In his statement, the PM congratulated Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his presidential election victory.</p> <p>Meanwhile, a&nbsp;number of ministers have resigned today following Sajith Premadasa's defeat.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sri Lankan government ministers have resigned from their posts following Sajith Premadasa's defeat in the presidential election.&nbsp;</p> <p>Minister of Defense and Minister of Mass Media, Ruwan Wijewardene and Minister of Development Strategy, Malik&nbsp;Samarawickrema,&nbsp;are&nbsp;the latest to resign from their ministerial roles.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The UK is the latest country to congratulate Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his presidential election victory.&nbsp;</p> <p>British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Sarah Hulton OBE, congratulated Gotabaya on his election and "the people of Sri Lanka on a more peaceful election period than ever."</p> <p>Lord Ahmad, Minister for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia, also congratulated Gotabaya on Twitter and said that he looks "forward to the UK and Sri Lanka working together constructively as Commonwealth partners."</p>

<p>Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, President of Maldives, congratulated Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his ‘resounding election victory’ on Twitter.&nbsp;</p> <p>He tweeted:&nbsp;</p> <blockquote><p> "Warm congratulations to President-elect @GotabayaR for a resounding election victory in Sri Lanka. I look forward to working with your new administration to further the already close and fraternal ties between Maldives and Sri Lanka." </p></blockquote>

<p>The United States congratulated the people of Sri Lanka on their democratic election and pledges support of strong,&nbsp;sovereign Sri Lanka.&nbsp;</p> <blockquote><p> “We look forward to working with President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa on issues of good governance, economic growth, the advancement of human rights and reconciliation in support of a strong, sovereign Sri Lanka,” Alaina Teplitz, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives tweeted today. </p></blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p>

A handful of Rajapaksa supporters celebrated in districts in the North-East today as many Tamils avoided public places following the announcement of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the winner of Sri Lanka's presidential election.

With Gotabaya Rajapaksa being announced as Sri Lanka’s new president there has been a surge in Sinhala Buddhist nationalist hate speech online.