Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse yesterday denied government allegations that he attempted a coup to remain in office after it became clear that he had lost last week’s election.
In comments published on Twitter as Pope Francis landed on the island, Rajapakse insisted that he had readily accepted “the people’s verdict” in what was his first reaction to the polls on Thursday.
Top aides of new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena have alleged that the veteran strongman tried to cling to power in the early hours of Friday by urging the nation’s army and police chiefs to deploy the security forces.
However, Rajapakse wrote: “I deny in all possible terms reports of attempts to use the military to influence election results.”
“I accepted the outcome long before the final official results were released and congratulated the new president,” he said.
The 69-year-old, who came to power in a 2005 presidential election, added that he had “always bowed down to the people’s verdict.”
Sirisena’s new administration has pledged to make an investigation into what it has called “the coup and conspiracy” one of its top priorities.
Although the military has not confirmed an approach from Rajapakse’s camp in the hours before the final results were announced, Sirisena’s top lieutenants have said there was clear evidence of a conspiracy.
Rajapakse, who had been South Asia’s longest-serving leader, had initially been widely praised for conceding defeat to Sirisena before the final results were announced.
However, newly appointed Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera said “it was anything but” a peaceful transition.
“He stepped down only when the army chief and the police inspector general refused to go along with him,” Samaraweera said over the weekend.
Rajapakse has been accused of presiding over large-scale human rights abuses, including allegations of mass civilian casualties at the end of Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist war.
While Sirisena’s camp have said that the army and police chiefs resisted the pressure from Rajapakse, leading lawyers have accused Sri Lankan Chief Justice Mohan Peiris of being party to a plot.
Lawyers have been demanding the resignation of Peiris, a former adviser to Rajapakse who was appointed chief justice after the controversial impeachment of his predecessor Shirani Bandaranayake in January 2013.
Speaking on a visit to regional powerhouse India on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters he had impressed “the importance of maintaining a peaceful process no matter what” when he spoke by telephone to Rajapakse last week.
While Kerry hailed the “peaceful change of power” in a nation devastated by the 37-year ethnic conflict, he also warned that “there are still real challenges in Sri Lanka.”
Kerry had earlier publicly voiced appreciation for Rajapakse’s early concession of election defeat before the coup allegations emerged.
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