The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was prompt in congratulating Maithripala Sirisena on being sworn in as the new President of the island republic and assured to work with him and invited him to visit India. The Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on her counterpart Mangala Samaraweera and congratulated him and invited him to visit India, which he immediately accepted. Samaraweera is expected to begin his first foreign tour with is visit to India on January 18. But all said India is ready to allow Sirisena to settle down and take his own time in fulfilling the people’s mandate.

Rajapaksa did create concerns for India. Arrogant as he is, refused to devolve political and financial powers to the Tamil-dominated northern and eastern provinces. India had asked him to devolve powers to the Tamil provinces as per the 13thAmendment to the country’s Constitution. After the brutal decimation of one of the world’s deadliest guerrilla group, LTTE, and killing of thousands of innocent Tamils in the process, he was slow in his rehabilitation plan. India extended financial support in the rehabilitation of Tamils, but Rajapaksa’s move was slow and tardy. He also refused to allow an independent inquiry into the horrific massacre in 2009. The violation of human rights in 2009 massacre invited global concern and issue was debated in the UN Human Rights Council, but India did not pressurize much hoping that good sense would prevail upon Rajapaksa sooner than later. Hopes are there that Sirisena may take steps to address the concerns of the international community. The UN Human Rights Council is likely to take up this issue in the next session in Geneva in March.

Had Rajapaksa been allowed to remain in power and continue with his arrogant attitude on this issue for long, it would have invited sanctions from the Western powers, thereby dwindling the island country’s economy.

The despotic and arrogant nature of Rajapaksa knew no bounds. Just to annoy India, he planned to have closer links with China even at the cost of South Asia. Both Sirisena and the new Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have criticized Rajapaksa for inviting huge loans from China for building roads, ports and other infrastructure. They are opposed the building of another port in Colombo with Chinese assistance as it would amount to huge ecological damage. Despite India’s protests, Rajapaksa allowed Chinese submarines to dock at Colombo port twice and threatened to turn Sri Lanka into a strategic asset for China at New Delhi’s expense.

After 2009 massacre, Rajapaksa bounced back to power for the second successive term in 2010, but he did not prove well for the Sri Lankan democracy. The parliamentary elections held in April 2010 gave his party two-third majority to amend the Constitution that stipulated only two terms for a president. But why did he do this? He thought that the Buddhist-majority population would reward him for the 2009 massacre by bouncing him back to power many times. His other interests was to protect himself and his coterie – his brother and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, army generals and officials and hosts of other Rajapaksas - from possible war crimes. But unfortunately for Rajapaksa, Sri Lankans were not too happy to tolerate his game any longer.

The 18th Amendment to the Constitution gave sweeping powers to the president in the appointment of heads and members of major institutions like Election Commission, Public Service Commission and Anti-Bribery Commission. Rajapaksa trampled upon the independence of judiciary and removed Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and appointed Attorney General Mohan Peiris in his place.

But over-confident Rajapaksa declared his decision to hold presidential polls after completing four years of his six-year term. His colleague Sirisena defected to become the joint opposition sponsored presidential candidate. Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike of Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) along with others came out to lend support to Sirisena, who also got support from Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) and Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Also Sirisena had the support of Muslim and some Sinhalese outfits who were fed up with the dictatorial and corrupt Rajapaksa regime. This ensured Sirisena’s victory.

Sirisena had promised to abolish the executive powers of the President and return to Westminster style of parliamentary democracy. This would amount to scraping of 18th Amendment and bringing in further amendments to the Constitution. He would have to mobilise numbers in Parliament and possibly have to rely on Rajapaksa’s SLFP or depend upon further defection from SLFP. A hard task ahead for Sirisena.

As for the devolution of powers to the Tamil provinces, he is better equipped with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution already in place. TNA while extending support to Sirisena had demanded devolution of powers to Tamil provinces on the lines of that enjoyed by the state governments in India. But Sirisena during his campaign, with a view to placate Sinhalese outfit, promised not to withdraw army from Tamil provinces. One should not forget that Sirisena is also perceived as a Sinhalese hardliner.

Sirisena has own with the support of several forces who were opposed to Rajapaksa’s style of functioning and his corrupt regime. His first priority will be to introduce necessary democratic reforms and ensure a corruption free regime. India had always attempted to have better relations with Sri Lanka. Its economic engagements with its island neighbor, including the free trade agreement between the two countries, could help Colombo to graduate to the status of a developing country from a least developed one. Hope Sirisena will need to better its relationship with India. Rajapaksa had obliged India by his presence in the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Modi in May last year, but his approach did not move further from this gesture. It now depends upon how much Prime Minister Modi and President Sirisena work out the relations to the mutual benefit of the two neighbours and for SAARC and BIMSTEC groups in which both are active participants. (IPA Service)