Sri Lanka’s New Strongman Promises ‘Tolerance’ For Minorities

  • Rajapaksa won large majorities from Buddhist-Sinhala voters
  • Easter Sunday attack highlighted incumbent’s security failure
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa waves during a campaign rally in Homagama on Nov. 13.Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images
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Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who won Sri Lanka’s bitterly contested presidential poll, promised tolerance for all religions and cultures in a nation where racial tensions have divided communities for decades.

“All minorities’ right to practice religion and culture will be assured,” Rajapaksa said at his swearing in ceremony at a highly venerated Buddhist site in the north central district of Anuradhapura on Monday. “Now we have a duty to rebuild the nation.”