Foreign Minister John Baird… “Canada looks forward to this new chapter in Sri Lanka’s history, one of prosperity and unity.” Picture by Mahesh Abeyewardene
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird congratulated Sri Lankans on a peaceful presidential election, highlighting the roles of civil society, domestic election observers and the elections commissioner.
Mahinda Rajapakse, first elected in November 2005, the longest serving leader in the region conceded defeat last night and promised peaceful handover of power following electoral defeat to his ally Maithripala Sirisena.
“Canada congratulates the millions of Sri Lankans who went to the polls and peacefully exercised their democratic right to vote. We welcome Maithripala Sirisena as president of Sri Lanka,” Baird said in statement today sent to lankareporter.com.
Baird congratulated all Sri Lankans highlighting the roles of civil society and domestic observers. (Picture CMEV – CPA Sri Lanka)
“We wish to recognize the key role played by Sri Lankan civil society during the election process, noting that this was the first time that domestic observers were granted access to the counting centres,” he added.
Sirisena was sworn in as the sixth President of Sri Lanka early this morning and Ranil Wickremasinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister at a ceremony in Colombo’s Independence Square.
“Canada looks forward to this new chapter in Sri Lanka’s history, one of prosperity and unity.”
Baird’s statement paid no attention to the outgoing administration of Rajapakse, the two countries relations hit a low when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen boycotted the Commonwealth summit in Colombo and cut funding to the secretariat over alleged rights abuses.
Canada’s top diplomat acknowledged the role of Mahinda Deshapriya the elections commissioner of Sri Lanka and asked the new President to restore good governance and address long-running grievances of ethnic minorities.
“Canada also commends the critical role played by Sri Lanka’s Election Commissioner in creating the conditions for Sri Lankans to freely express their will.
“It is our hope that President Sirisena seizes his mandate from the people of Sri Lanka to foster a transparent, responsive and pluralistic government. It will also be an important opportunity to resolve concerns regarding the devolution of power, accountability and genuine reconciliation.
“Canada looks forward to this new chapter in Sri Lanka’s history, one of prosperity and unity.”
