Former defense official Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been sworn in as Sri Lanka's president and appealed to the minority Tamil and Muslim communities who voted against him to rally around him. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Ruwanweli Seya, a stupa and a hemispherical structure containing relics and considered sacred to Buddhists all over the world, in the ancient north-central town of Anuradhapura, around 200 km from the national capital Colombo. Rajapaksa is the first president to be sworn in outside Colombo.

Former defense official Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been sworn in as Sri Lanka's president and appealed to the minority Tamil and Muslim communities who voted against him to rally around him. The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Ruwanweli Seya, a stupa and a hemispherical structure containing relics and considered sacred to Buddhists all over the world, in the ancient north-central town of Anuradhapura, around 200 km from the national capital Colombo. Rajapaksa is the first president to be sworn in outside Colombo.