Wickremesinghe vows to work with rivals to build unity govt

Ranil Wickremesinghe, set to return as Sri Lanka's premier for a fourth term, today appealed to all political parties to work together to heal the divisions of the past as he began piecing together a new national unity government with possible support from minority Tamils.
A day after the 66-year-old incumbent premier thwarted ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa's bid to stage a political comeback amid a surge in support for his reform-driven mandate, Wickremesinghe struck a reconciliatory note and called all parties to contribute to nation-building.
"I want everyone to come together now, think of the country, think of the people," he said ahead of his swearing- in as the new Prime Minister tomorrow.

He said he will continue the mandate for good governance given in parliamentary polls and work together with all parties in a national government for 2-3 years.
"The parliamentary elections of August 17 confirms the January 8 revolution," he said, referring to the presidential election held in January in which Rajapaksa had lost.
"We can't turn back," Wickremesinghe said, adding he will build a consensus on the new government's national policy.

"I have got a mandate to put our plan before Parliament, so that we could arrive at a consensus and build a national framework within which we will do our politics," he said, striking a reconciliatory note.

"Through this approach ... All parties could work together either in government holding a ministerial position or in Parliament through the oversight committees."
Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) coalition won 106 seats in Monday's parliamentary election, just 7 short of a simple majority in the 225-member assembly but enough to form a government.
He was certain to receive the majority support from Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) which has 95 seats.
The minority Tamil National Alliance (TNA) swept the ethnic Tamil-majority Northern and Eastern provinces with 16 seats and media reports today quoted a senior TNA leader that the party will extend support to the government.

"We will sit in the opposition but back the new government," TNA MP Dharmalingam Sithadthan said.
Rajapaksa, who accepted the poll result with "humility", today said he will not retire from politics and will serve the nation as an MP.