November 21, 2019 – Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Opposition Leader and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday took oaths as Prime Minister of the Republic in a historically unique ceremony of State in which his younger brother, newly elected President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, swore him into office. It was the first time in Sri Lankan history that two democratically elected siblings had taken up the two top positions of governance in the Republic.
After the singing of the National Anthem, at the auspicious time of 1:10 p.m. in the ornate conference room of the Presidential Secretariat – formerly the chamber of the House of Representatives of the old post-colonial Parliament – the two Rajapaksa brothers, both political legends already, stood on the high podium bedecked with national and presidential flags and insignia. President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, no doubt quietly proud, watched his elder brother, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, current Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, reading aloud the oath of office of Prime Minister.