A Chronology

*November 19, 2005: President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his maiden speech as the new Executive President of Sri Lanka calls for unity and consensus, to support the nation building programme and ushering lasting peace. Vows to enact his election manifesto "Mahinda Chinthana".

*November 20, 2005: In his maiden visit to the sacred Sri Dalada Maligawa as the country's Head of State, says that while taking effective steps to safeguard Buddhism, he will also act to ensure religious rights of all faiths.

*November 23, 2005: President appoints new Cabinet.

*November 25, 2005: The President calls for a revision of the Ceasefire Agreement and a transparent peace process in his first policy statement delivered during the ceremonial opening of the new session in Parliament.

*December 09, 2005: Unveils his maiden budget. Announces a series of measures to bring down the cost of living and to spur business and investment.

*December 13, 2005: President assures a 'New Sri Lanka' based on his election manifesto "Mahinda Chinthana" at a commemorative event held at the BMICH to mark 50 years of the country's membership in the United Nations.

*December 28, 2005: Makes his maiden foreign visit to India as the President and meets Indian Premier Dr.Manmohan Singh.

*January 09, 2006: President meets donor Co-Chairs and urges them to put pressure on the LTTE to renounce violence.

*January 23, 2006: Visiting Norwegian Special Envoy Erik Solheim meets President to discuss the current state of the peace process.

*February 13, 2006: President rules out LTTE demands for a separate homeland in the North and the East in an interview with Reuters.

*March 16, 2006: President meets former Indian Premier Mr. Indra Kumar Gujral in Colombo.

*March 31, 2006: Visits Pakistan and meets its leader Pervez Musharaff. During the visit Sri Lanka enters into several MOU's with Pakistan in a bid to further strengthen bi-lateral ties.

*April 04, 2006: President hands over compensation cheques to families of victims of the 1981-1984 ethnic violence.

*April 10, 2006: President addresses all political party leaders, before the start of the second round of peace talks in Geneva on April 19th.

*April 25, 2006: Addressing the Nation in the immediate aftermath of an attempt on the life of Army Commander by a LTTE suicide bomber, the President says that the Tigers have unilaterally broken all efforts towards a peaceful settlement initiated by the Government.

*May 08 2006: Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi holds talks with the President and discusses the current deadlock over the resumption of peace talks.

*May 11 2006: President inaugurates work on Norochcholai coal power plant, which was delayed for more than 10 years due to opposition from various sectors.

*June 02, 2006: President chairs an all party conference, initiated to find a durable solution to the national problem.

*June 03 2006: Admiral Sir Jonathan Band, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff of UK, calls on the President.

*June 15, 2006: President visits Kebithigollewa after a claymore mine targeting civilian passengers kills over sixty.

*June 27, 2006: President pays last respects to the late Major General Parami Kulatunge, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack by the LTTE, near Pannipitiya junction on June 26.

*June 29, 2006: President appointed as the new SLFP leader. He is the first party leader to hail from outside the Bandaranaike family, taking reins from former President Chandrika Bandaranaike.

*July 03, 2006: Indian foreign Secretary Shyam Saran calls on the President to discuss the current state of the peace process.

*July 11, 2006: President urges the APRC to seek a home grown solution to the ethnic problem.

*July 27, 2006: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres briefs President on his meeting with LTTE political wing leader S.P.Thamilselvan.

*July 31, 2006: Maldives President Abdul Gayoom calls on the President.

*August 13, 2006: President calls the assassination of Deputy Secretary General of SCOPP Kethiswaran Loganathan by the LTTE as a severe blow to the search for a negotiated solution to the national problem.

*August 16, 2006: President meets media heads and urges them not to carry reports that could inflame communal hatred.

*August 24, 2006: President officially launches the Government Information Center web site.

*August 25, 2006: The CWC and UPF leaders meet President and pledge their support to the Government.

*August 31, 2006: During his visit to England President meets British Premier Tony Blair.

*September 04, 2006: President chairs the 55th SLFP convention at the BMICH.

*September 12, 2006: President urges LTTE to renounce violence\terrorism and enter talks while inaugurating the 2006 Finance Ministers meeting in Colombo.

*September 16, 2006: President participates in the non alignment movement summit in Havana.

*September 20, 2006: President meets US President George Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at UN head quarters in New York.

*October 04, 2006: Appoints Senior Deputy Inspector General Victor Perera as the new Inspector General of Police.

*October 19, 2006: US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia, Richard Boucher calls on the President.

*October 23, 2006: According to an initiative by the President the two major political parties in the country the UNP and the SLFP enter into an MOU with the intention of finding a lasting solution to the national crisis.

*November 16, 2006: President unveils the budget proposals for 2007 in Parliament, in his capacity as the Finance Minister.

*November 23, 2006: Indian foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon meets President and discusses a range of issues relating to enhanced bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

*January 09, 2007: Indian Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee arrives in Sri Lanka and formally invites the President the for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit to be held in New Delhi in April 28.

*January 28, 2007: Massive cabinet reshuffle as 18 UNP MPs and six SLMC MP's cross over to the government.

*February 03, 2007: President visits Vakarai and Sampoor, which were recently captured from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

*February 04, 2007: The President in his Independence Day speech emphasises action to bring freedom and development to the country. He calls for speedy establishment of democratic governance in areas recently captured from the LTTE.

*February 11, 2007: President visits Maldives and holds bilateral talks with Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom..

*February 26, 2007: President visits China for a six-day state visit that coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

*March 13, Colombo: Japanese Foreign Ministry's Director General for Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Chihiro Atsumi, calls on the President and exchanges views on bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest.

*March 27, 2007: Sri Lanka's new budget airline Mihinlanka takes its inaugural flight to Bodhgaya in India.

*March 21, 2007: President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveils a portrait of the former President J.R. Jayewardene in the Parliament building.

*April 03, 2007: President addresses the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi, India and calls for collective measures to end the scourge of terrorism from the region.

*April 07 2007: Senior Solicitor General Mr. C.R. De Silva sworn in as the new Attorney General of Sri Lanka before President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees.

*April 19 2007: President meets Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinal Palace in Italy.

*April 20, 2007: President warmly greeted by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.

*April 28, 2007: President attends the 2007 World Cup final match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Barbados, West Indies.

*May 02, 2007: President opens Vesak celebrations at Temple Trees.

*May 06, 2007: Japanese peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi calls on President at Temple Trees.

*May 10, 2007: President meets the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd. and Rt.M Hon. Dr. Rowan D. Williams at Temple Trees.

*May 20, 2007: President Mahinda Rajapaksa attends the G11 Summit in Jordan.

*May 21, 2007: President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in Kuwait for an official tour

*June 14, 2007: President meets with officials from ICRC and Human Rights Council in Geneva and discusses on the human right concerns in the country.

*June 16, 2007: President meets Eric Solheim, Minister of International Development in Norway and Hansan Bauer Special Representative of Sri Lanka Peace process in Geneva and discusses the current situation in Sri Lanka.

*June 19, 2007: A delegation from the World Muslim Congress, led by its President Dr. Abdullah Bin Omar Nasseef, meets the President at Temple Trees.

*July 19, 2007: Sri Lanka ceremoniously celebrates the capture of the entire Eastern Province from the rebel control with pomp and pageantry with the President leading the way.

*August 09, 2007: John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator calls on the President at Temple Trees.

*August 19, 2007: President addressees the opening ceremony of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) at the BMICH.

*August 28, 2007: Myanmar's Acting Prime Minister Lieutenant-General Thein Sein pays a courtesy call on the President at President's House in Kandy.

*September 02, 2007: President participates as the Chief Guest at the 56th anniversary celebrations of SLFP at the BMICH.

*September 17, 2007: President along with the Navy Commander ceremoniously welcomes the sailors who returned home after the successful mission that is considered as an epic victory destroying several LTTE arms ships.

*September 22, 2007: The President accompanied by First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrives in New York to attend the 62nd United Nation General Assembly.

*October 04, 2007: The President takes the plough in his hand marking the government's new approach towards the development of agriculture at the traditional national 'Wap Magul Ceremony' at the Balagollagama Viharagama paddy field of the Nikaweratiya Magalla Irrigation scheme.

*October 25, 2007: President declares open the longest bridge so far built in Sri Lanka, linking the Northern and Eastern Province across the Mahaveli River' at Manampitiya.

*October 30, 2007: Sri Lanka government and Exim Bank of China enters into an agreement pertaining to the construction of Hambanthota harbour. The agreement was signed under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

*November 07, 2007: President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance tables the 2008 budget.

*November 23, 2007: The President participates in the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of State summit in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

*November 28, 2007: Sri Lanka and Iran signs eight MoU's on expansion of mutual cooperation between the two countries.

*December 07, 2007: President welcomes Muttiah Muralitharan and his parents to Temple Trees as Murali becomes worlds highest wicket taker in test cricket.

*December 09, 2007: President arrives in the capital of Japan, Tokyo for a two-day official visit on the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

*December 10, 2007: President meets Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo. The two leaders hold bilateral discussions on the current situation in Sri Lanka.

*December 14, 2007: President participates as the chief guest of British Royal Naval Collage passing out ceremony of 2007 at Dartmouth.

*December 17, 2007: President Mahinda Rajapaksa opens the reconstructed Galle International Cricket Stadium . The stadium had been destroyed by the December 2004 tsunami.

*January 11, 2008: President pays last respects to the late Minister D.M.Dassanayake, who was a victim of a LTTE claymore attack.

*January 18, 2008: Admiral Robert F Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet calls on the President.

*January 23, 2008: President receives APRC proposals.

*February 04, 2008: President in his Independence Day address vows to liberate the Northern masses from the clutches of LTTE tyranny. A viable political solution to the national issue too would be unveiled in the near future, he adds.

*February 23, 2008: President opens the longest tunnel in Sri Lanka at Ramboda.

*March 18, 2008: Local Government members of Batticaloa sworn in by the President.

*March 20, 2008: President pays his last respects to the legendary science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke.

*March 25, 2008: President declares open the steel flyover in Kelaniya, which is considered as the worlds fastest built fly over, completed within 60 days.

*March 30, 2008: President chairs 18th SLFP convention.

*April 07, 2008: President pays last respects to the late Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, who was killed by a LTTE suicide bomber.

*April 09, 2008: President undertakes an official visit to China.

*April 10, 2008: President meets Chinese President Hu Jintao, holds bilateral talks.

*April 26, 2008: Aboriginal leaders meet President at temple trees to discuss their grievances.

*April 28, 2008: On an invitation extended by the President, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad arrives in Sri Lanka for a two day visit.

*May 01, 2008: President addresses the UPFA May Day rally in Dehiattakandiya, the first to be held in the Eastern Province.

*May 06, 2008: President inaugurates work on the Oluvil Port project.

*May 13, 2008: President addressees the Oxford Union in London.

*May 16, 2008: President appoints Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan as the first ever Chief Minister of the Eastern Province.

*June 02, 2008: President arrives in Rome to attend a high level conference on world food security, challenges posed by climate change and improving the use of Bio-Energy.

*August 02, 2008: Addressing the inaugural session of the 15th SAARC summit in Colombo President calls the South Asian leaders to redouble collective efforts to combat terrorism.

*August 07, 2008: President visits China and holds bilateral talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

*September 21, 2008: President arrives in New York to attend the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly.

*September 24, 2008: Addressing the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly, President emphasises that the Sri Lankan Government would not allow a terrorist group like the LTTE to hold the Tamil community hostage.

*September 26, 2008:President meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and British Premier Gordon Brown at the UN Head Office.

*October 07, 2008: Breakaway LTTE leader Vinyagamoorthi Muralitharan calls on the President at Temple Trees after being appointed as a UPFA National list MP in Parliament.

*October 09, 2008: President greets Palestine President Dr.Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Sri Lanka on a two day official visit.

*October 10, 2008: Sri Lanka inks historic agreement with Palestine on technical cooperation and practical training.

*November 06, 2008: President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance presents budget proposals for 2009 in parliament. The budget is widely hailed as one which would reduce cost of living and spur local industries.

*November 10-13- The President visits Maldives for the inauguration of the new President and attends the BIMSTEC Summit in New Delhi. In bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, assures the safety and security of Tamil civilians.