Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne
SINGAPORE (IDN) – After Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena's shock decision on October 26 to appoint his political foe of recent years Mahinda Rajapakse as Prime Minister, Western diplomats and the international media have expressed outrage at what they perceive as "lack of respect for democratic institutions" such as the Parliament.
But, within an hour of the announcement, Sri Lankan media broadcast images of people lighting celebratory fire crackers across the country including in Tamil-dominated Jaffna.