President Abdulla Yameen has congratulated recently elected Sri Lankan President Maithiripala Sirisena while the foreign ministry has quelled rumours that senior members of the outgoing government have “fled” to the Maldives.
In a message to his new Sri Lankan counterpart, President Yameen offered congratulations on behalf of himself and the people of Maldives.
“Through the election, Sri Lankans have demonstrated yet again the strength of the country’s democracy and the resilience of its institutions. The election result is a testament to the trust and confidence that Sri Lankans have on your policies, your leadership, and on your commitment to the advancement of Sri Lanka,” said Yameen.
Former health minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sirisena took 51.3 percent of the vote on Thursday (January 8), ending the incumbent’s ten-year rule – which had looked sure to continue just weeks earlier.
“Let me take this opportunity to invite you to make a State Visit to the Maldives at your earliest convenience. Such a visit would give us the opportunity to exchange views in taking our relationship forward,” continued President Yameen’s message.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dismissed speculation that key figures from the outgoing Sri Lankan government had “fled” to the Maldives.
“The Government of Maldives confirms that no senior official in the previous Government in Sri Lanka travelled to the Maldives after the Presidential election,” read a press release from the ministry today.
The foreign ministry’s statement came after the Colombo Telegraph cited reliable sources as saying that the former Sri Lankan defence minister Gothabaya Rajapaksa had travelled to the Maldives as soon as his brother’s defeat was confirmed.
Former President Rajapaksa has said that he looks forward to a peaceful transition of power.
President Yameen last week transferred all Sri Lankan prisoners held in the Maldives upon a request from Rajapaksa, who cited humanitarian grounds for the move.
Just under ten thousand Maldivians live in Sri Lanka, with bilateral trade said to have grown by 40 percent in 2013.
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At least democracy is still functioning in Sri Lanka unlike here in the Maldives!
Sri Lankans had conducted this last Presidential Election in an admirable manner. Rajapaksa and Sirisena have both behaved as mature politicians. Only 2 month's earlier, Sirisena was Health Minister and General Secretary of Rajapaksa's party.
Sri Lanka's political parties and politicians have far move experience of party politics and democratic government than Maldivians have. The dismissed Chief Justice may now be re-instated, and Tamils and Muslims and Christians may get a bit more rights and freedoms than they enjoyed under Rajapaksa rule.
Maldives have a Buddhist past, and our language Dihehi is a close relative of Sinhala. Contacts and connections between the two countries can be traced back to ancient times. There are ten thousand Maldivians residing currently in Sri Lanka.
And yet the two countries look miles away from each other, and their histories and politics so very different from each other.
Our Sinhala brothers and sisters have a word for us in the Maldives. We are their 'yaaloos'. We the Maldivians are Sri Lanka's friends. That's it.
The Sinhala slogan 'apee aanduwa', meaning 'this is our country' is used against the Tamils but not against the Maldivians.
Gotha is in Maldives, Yameen you also will face the same thing like Rajapaksha.
Hope soon.God will punish people like you.
Buddism did not originate in Sri Lanak. It came to Sri lanka from India in 250 BC. So it is more likely that Indians brought Buddism to Maldives too. Mind you, India is closer to Maldives.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/perera/wheel100.html#preface
Check your facts Mr. Michael Fackmy.
For democracy to work here, we'll need to liquidate the entire Mordis Paatey Sodu Gang(alliance of street gangs), The Supreme Porn Studio(porn studio and corrupt judiciary) and the Mordis National Dumbshit Federation(the military wing of the PPM).
Dr No must read more carefully what I said and wrote. Dr No must improve his reading skills and general knowledge. Dr No must learn something about internet ethics also. Dr No is not educated. He is rough and rude. Dr No is just a workman. Bye bye Dr No.
I write with reference to Michael Fahmy on Sat 10th Jan 2015 10.30 PM post and what looks like a reply to it by Dr No on Sun 11th Jan 2015 1.41 AM.
I am a Maldivian and my Maldivian instincts tell me that this Dr No is not a Maldivian, and neither is he a Sinhala.
There are well established rules in English and other European languages for expressing dissent from other people.
There are also well established rules in these European languages for conducting public discourse in a civilised manner.
Dr No has not followed these rules and probably does not even know them.
Dr No's useless and pathetic contribution ends by twisting my name Michael Fahmy into Michael Fackmy. He has even called me Michael F**kmy earlier.
Dr No is obviously a man who loves to abuse me by changing my name into F**king which, of course, amuses him greatly but it is regarded by me as a contribution by a potential terrorist and criminal.
These guys abound on the internet as we all know. Minivan News has its fair share of them.
I hope very much that Dr No is not sitting and working in the Indian High Commission in Male. What does this man gain by hating Sri Lanka,I do not know.