New era dawns

*Islandwide celebrations

*Colourful military parade at Galle Face

President Mahinda Rajapaksa will today take his oaths for a second term in Office following his overwhelming victory at the January 26 Election.

He will be sworn-in before Chief Justice Asoka De Silva opposite the old Parliament building at an auspicious time in the morning. Following the swearing-in the President will address the Nation.

It will see the climax of week long events and celebrations countrywide organised to mark the occasion including bodhi poojas, multi-religious ceremonies, acts of dana and philanthropy, a massive tree plating campaign and cultural exhibitions etc., when the nation would give President Rajapaksa a fitting welcome for his second term. The week leading to today’s swearing-in also saw several development schemes being commissioned including the country’s first coal power plant in Norochcholai culminating in the arrival of the first ocean vessel to the newly constructed Hambantota Port yesterday coinciding with the President’s birthday.

The public was in a celebratory mood with the country dotted with giant hoardings, cut-outs and life size portraits of the President while streets were decorated and illuminated in dazzling shades.

In addition the National flag was flown in all Government Institutions and even private sector establishments with traders and many households also joining in the celebrations. Massive crowds are expected at the Galls Face Green venue to witness the swearing in and the elaborate ceremonies and pageants to follow.

Several roads leading to the venue will be closed for traffic and many Government and Private establishments closed due to the security arrangements for the event.

The highlight of today’s post swearing-in celebrations would be a grand military parade replete with all the trappings and grandeur including a 21 gun salute and a flypast by Air Force jets together with a giant cultural display at the Galle Face esplanade overlooking the old Parliament building.

The seas off Galle Face will also be a hive of activity with a special display by Naval craft.

Several foreign dignitaries will be present on the occasion of the President’s second term inauguration. Among them are Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhen and his spouse together with a 18 member delegation, Special Envoy of the Chinese President, Sang Giuuwei and Foreign Affairs Assistance Minister Hu Zhengyue, Chairman of the Pakistani Senate Farook Hamid Naek his spouse and State Minister Saleem Mandviwalla.

Maldives will be represented by Ibrahim Hussein Special envoy of President Mohomed Nasheed, Maldives Democratic Party Chairperson Mariya Ahamed Didi (MP) and Minority Leader of the People’s Majlis Moosa Maruku(MP). Congratulatory messages were also being sent by several world leaders on the occasion of the assumption of office by President Rajapaksa for a second term.

Young Mahinda Rajapaksa first entered Parliament as a 24-year- old winning the Beliatta electorate at the 1970 election. Scion of a famous Political family from Ruhuna he soon etched his name in the country’s political firmament as a doughty campaigner of the common man. His militant approach and charming personality was evident even in those young days which proved to be his hallmark even as a mature politician winning for him the love and affection of the public in no small measure.

Though he lost in 1977 when his Party was reduced to only 8 seats Mahinda Rajapaksa was always in the forefront to espouse the cause of the oppressed and the downtrodden and was the rallying point in many an agitation campaign organised by the Opposition.

He was elected to Parliament once again in 1989 and was in the vanguard as a Human rights activist where he played a major role in exposing the extra-judicial killings of innocent youth during the Government’s brutal suppressing of the JVP uprising in the late 80s. He was also a livewire of the Mother’s Front formed by a band of mothers whose sons had disappeared at the height of the terror period.

When the PA Government was formed in 1994 Mahinda was made the Minister of Labour and Vocational Training and also went onto hold the portfolios of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in a subsequent Cabinet reshuffle.

His rise to real prominence came when he was made the Opposition Leader during the short period the PA was out of power between 2001 and 2003 which eventually paved the way for him to assume the mantle of Prime Minister and then go on to become the sixth executive President of Sri Lanka on November 18, 2005.