Address by H.E. the President to 8th Parliament: 1 September 2015
Honorable Speaker, honorable Members of Parliament,
It is my great pleasure to offer you the congratulations of the people of Sri Lanka and welcome you to the new parliament. You are the democratically elected representatives of the people and you have been elected in the most peaceful election held in the history of our country.
As a person political experience of more than five decades, including 26 years as a Member of Parliament, I take this opportunity extend my thanks to the brotherly people in this country, those who voted for and against me at the Presidential Election on January 08, which I won as the Common Candidate of the opposition.
Your Excellencies,
Hon. Mangala Samaraweera MP was appointed today as Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister. Taking oaths in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat, he re-affirmed his commitment to “faithfully perform the duties and discharge the functions of the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in accordance with the Constitution”. 
The European Union says the parliamentary elections held in Sri Lanka on August 17 were genuine, well administered and peaceful overall. 
The 17 August Parliamentary Elections in Sri Lanka were ―well administered and offered voters a genuine choice from among a broad range of political alternatives, although campaign rules were restrictive‖, said Cristian Preda, Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) and Member of the European Parliament, during the presentation of the preliminary report at a press conference.