Sri Lanka Swears In New President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Sri Lanka’s former defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sworn in, on Monday, as the country’s new president after a record election victory, officials said.

The swearing-in took place before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya in front of a historic Buddhist temple in Anuradhapura, 180 kilometres northeast of the capital.

Rajapaksa, the candidate for the Sri Lanka Podujana Party (Peoples’ Party), recorded a comfortable victory with a majority of more than 1.3 million votes in the country’s presidential polls, according to election results.

He received around 52 percent of the vote, compared to the 42 percent for his chief rival, ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as defence secretary under his brother and was responsible for directing the military campaign against Tamil rebels, leading to their final defeat in 2009.

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