Mahinda tells Maithri to respect people’s mandate

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday asked President Maithripala Sirisena to respect the mandate of the people in the upcoming Parliamentary election on Monday.

Responding to the letter sent by President Sirisena on Thursday stating that the President would not allow appointing him as the prime minister in the event of a UPFA victory at the upcoming election, Rajapaksa said the choice of the people should be respected.

In his letter, President Sirisena said there were many other senior party members deserving the prime minister post if the UPFA forms a government after the election and asked the former President to graciously allow one of them to become the prime minister

The former President vehemently rejected the “baseless criticism” of him made by the President “on information obtained from other sources”.

Rajapaksa in his letter to the President Sirisena said that he re-entered politics based on a request made by the public and several senior opposition UPFA members by February 2015.

“I expect you to honour the wishes of the people at the general election in the same way I did after the January election,” Rajapaksa wrote in his letter to President Sirisena.

The former President said he is happy that President Sirisena has acknowledged that UPFA would obtain a majority in the Parliament.