Commenting on this, senior singer Jayatilake Bandara told Sri Lanka Mirror that Mahinda Rajapaksa was the most despotic ruler the country has seen after 1948.

The country was destroyed for his existence, journalists were murdered, communalism was encouraged, public money was swindled, but defeating him alone will not restore everything, he said.

Parliament should be used to implement better reforms, he said, noting that the cronies of Rajapaksa were still trying to drag society into a bottomless pit.

The government should be dissolved in order to elect people’s representatives who respect public aspirations and justice, said Bandara.