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Address by H.E. the President to 8th Parliament: 1 September 2015

President Maithripala Sirisena at the opening session of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka on 1st of September 2015Honorable 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.


Remarks by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Diplomatic Corps based in Colombo, 28 August 2015

11884991 887602961328645 1809229900367453557 oYour Excellencies,

It is my pleasure, this evening, to welcome all of you today to the Republic building, having been sworn in early this week as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. At the moment Sri Lanka has the dubious honour of having the smallest Cabinet in the world, having had the largest in the world last year.  At the moment we have a Cabinet of five, but the Government will be in place by Wednesday. 

Mangala Samaraweera appointed as Foreign Minister

SriLankaForeignMinisterSwornIntoOfficeHon. 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”.

EU lauds Sri Lanka’s genuine election

1667715696e5The European Union says the parliamentary elections held in Sri Lanka on August 17 were genuine, well administered and peaceful overall.

EU monitors say poll well-administered and genuine

1967581383predaThe 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.