COLOMBO (AFP) ― New President Maithripala Sirisena invited exiled dissidents back to Sri Lanka and promised to end censorship Saturday as he began to turn the page on the authoritarian rule of his toppled predecessor.
A day after his shock victory over veteran incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse, Sirisena began assembling a cabinet to deliver his pledges to repair the war-scarred nation’s diplomatic standing and implement a raft of reforms.
Sirisena, who was sworn in Friday evening after ending Rajapakse’s decade-long rule, was trying to form a “national unity” cabinet that would include members from a cross section of parties, an aide said.
“He will name some ministers next week and the balance after the pope’s visit,” from Jan. 13 to 15, said Sirisena’s top aide Rajitha Senaratne, who is tipped to become health minister.
He said that Sirisena has ordered the immediate lifting of censorship on dissident websites, an end to phone tapping, surveillance of journalists and politicians, and the establishment of a right to information law.
There was also an invitation to dozens of Sri Lankan journalists and other dissidents who have fled the country fearing attack from the previous administration to “come back immediately.”
“From now on, you have the freedom to criticize us. We will take strong action against anyone who tries to undermine media freedom,” Senaratne told reporters in Colombo.
Sirisena had promised a 100-day program to carry out urgent political and economic reforms, including moves to cut back on the powers of the president that Rajapakse gave himself during a decade in office.
Although there was no word from the new president himself on Saturday, Sirisena is expected to make an address to the nation from the historic hill resort of Kandy.
Shortly after being sworn in, Sirisena appointed parliamentary opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as his prime minister.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
