Rajapakse sworn in as Lanka president for 2nd term
Saturday, 20 November 2010
COLOMBO, Nov 19 (AFP): Sri Lanka's powerful president, Mahinda Rajapakse, was sworn in Friday for a second six-year term that he promises will deliver an economic rebirth after decades of ethnic conflict.
Rajapakse, who turned 65 Thursday, took the oath of office on an open-air stage overlooking the Indian Ocean, in a nationally televised ceremony that included a military march- past by thousands of troops.
Security was tight for the ceremony in the capital Colombo, where a holiday was declared to mark the occasion 10 months after the president's re-election victory in January's presidential polls.
Rajapakse had called the election two years early to take advantage of soaring approval ratings in the wake of last year's military victory in the decades-old civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Supreme Court ruled that his inauguration should be delayed until the anniversary of his initial November 2005 presidential win.
Rajapakse, who turned 65 Thursday, took the oath of office on an open-air stage overlooking the Indian Ocean, in a nationally televised ceremony that included a military march- past by thousands of troops.
Security was tight for the ceremony in the capital Colombo, where a holiday was declared to mark the occasion 10 months after the president's re-election victory in January's presidential polls.
Rajapakse had called the election two years early to take advantage of soaring approval ratings in the wake of last year's military victory in the decades-old civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
The Supreme Court ruled that his inauguration should be delayed until the anniversary of his initial November 2005 presidential win.