Appointing his China-friendly brother Mahinda the prime minister ahead of India visit marks a testing point for the new president's neighbourhood policy
Sri Lanka suffers from cleavages along many different lines, notably ideology, ethnicity, language, and religion
Mahinda won power in 2005 and went on to become South Asia's longest-serving leader. He became the country's youngest ever parliamentarian in 1970 at the age of 24
Gotabaya stormed to victory on Sunday in the presidential election, trouncing his nearest rival Sajith Premadasa by a margin of over 1.3 million votes
Gotabaya's election presents challenges and opportunities
Gotabaya oversaw the military defeat of Tamil separatists under his brother Mahinda 10 years ago
The 70-year-old politician served as the defence secretary during his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure as president from 2005 to 2014
At stake is the stability of a nation that has increasing strategic importance due in part to its proximity to some of the world's most important sea lines
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said recently that the Presidential Elections is likely to be held in November or December
If the Rajapaksa regime looks as if it is going to return in Sri Lanka, many in the country's armed forces will begin to feel extremely uneasy