Japan congratulates Mahinda

JAPAN was the first country to congratulate Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on his election as President of Sri Lanka.

"The Government of Japan expresses its heartfelt congratulations to Mahinda Rajapakse, on his election as the next President of Sri Lanka, and hopes that existing friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Japan will be further strengthened under the new President," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It said the election was conducted in a largely peaceful manner, although there were very low voter turnouts in some parts of the North-East region and some reported cases of violation of election laws.

"Japan strongly hopes that under the leadership of President Rajapakse, the peace process will be reinvigorated to achieve a negotiated settlement to the conflict. Japan remains committed to support peace and development in Sri Lanka," it added.