teen. >> martine. >> evidently that has been a rajapaksa dynasty hasn't it? >> definitely building up to be one. he was into his second term. he did call elections two years ahead of schedule, he did have another two years but it took a gamble. he did have to consolidate power, during this period of last particularly his second term he's seen himself consolidating power that a number of the rajapaksa family essentially headed the defense machinery but in addition to all of that there was also a number of different layers and rungs of the family in other cases case of state institutions which they defended as happening in other parts of the world but this very much an end of an era. martine. >> thank you. several books on southeastern politics joins us now from melbourne, australia. thank you very much indeed for talking to us at al jazeera. ending what was called a dynasty in sri lanka the sri sri lankans have voted against a cronyism form of government. >> a return to the consolidation of reconciliation with the tamal minority which really has not occurred s

details emarriaged -- emerged of a fail plan of mahinda rajapaksa, when he realised he would lose. >>> and the declining value in the rouble is leading to bumper bookages in sochi >>> first interior ministers from across europe arrive add at a security summit in france. they are talking about ways to coordinate counterterrorism efforts. the conference was called after violence last week in which 17 people and three gunmen were killed. and speaking within the last couple of minutes or so turkey's prime minister says he'll help the french to trace a fourth suspect who is thought to have fled towards the middle east. >> translation: talks between the two countries are underway after the attack. we are comparing the information that we have. i'd like to ensure that our security services are cop right >>> we'll speak to our reporter about the solidarity march about to start in paris, and will see 50 world leaders standing shoulder to shoulder. first to rory challands, our correspondent close to the interior ministry where the european community summit is under way. first of all, it's worth

the army chief reportedly refused mahinda rajapaksa. he conceded defeat to maithripala sirisena on friday. a government investigation is being launched. and the new president has been addressing the nation from the city where he spoke at a holy site for buddhists. >> we have been speaking to the campaign spokesperson for president maithripala sirisena and he tells us in the early hours of january the ninth, the votes were coming through. it seems the then president didn't like what he was seeing. he called for a meeting those in the attorney-general's office and the army chief, to find out what we are told a legal means of him retaining power. it's worthwhile remembering that he had poor results two years earlier in by-elections. to cut a long story short, that meeting didn't go down too well with the attorney-general representatives, it refused to play ball. they called for a private meeting, and it shows if this is true, the lengths that the former president was prepared to take to control the presidency here. today, speaking to the f

the killer of my people is governed. >> rajapaksa governed with an iron fist, and to many he was a heroat the end of the civil war, but many see him differently. the head of the regional tamil party says that rajapaksa has much to answer for. >> like hitler and mussolini rajapaksa is responsible for. >> some believe that enthusiasm for maithripala sirisena should be curbed until he has had time to prove himself. >> he had not made any promise or any assurance specifically for the tamils, giving more to the local government. >> equal treatment would mean the return to sri lanka without being haunted by ghosts of the past. the main sentiment is one of relief that rajapaksa is out of office but many are taking the wait-and-see approach before passing judgment. >> in zimbabwe thousands of people have lost their homes because of severe flooding. >> reporter: walking through what is left of her village sodden bricks and collapsed walls, this woman and hundreds of others have lost their homes and livelihood to flooding. >> that is my homestead. i owned a motorcycle, a grinding mill and livesto

president mahinda rajapaksa voted in his home town in the south. he changed the constitution in 2010 to allow for unlimited presidential terms, and says he's confident he can win an unprecedented third. >> translation: we are going to win this handsomely. our victory will be seen as a great victory by defeating as well. >> mahinda rajapaksa never expected he'd have to fight so hart. in north central sri lanka his ally for decades, now his political opponent went to the ballot box. maithripala sirisena fought what many describe as a brave campaign against the sri lankan leader accusing mahinda rajapaksa and his family some of whom long held positions of high political and economic power, of being autocratic and corrupt. >> translation: i know the vast majority of people will vote for me to take on the huge responsibility for the country. we are going to win. my hope is to build a country without violence - a kind and affectionate nation. >> reporter: there has been talks of voter intimidation it's unclear yet how clean the election was. >> concerns

inchts opposition parties accused rajapaksa of corruption. the former health minister won 53% of the vote while rajapaksa garnered 47%. sirisena drew support after accusing him of autocratic rule. >> translator: i canask you to take this forward with love. >>> he left after conceding defeat. sri lanka was plagued by a civil war that continued over 25 years. the conflict between tamil insurgents and government troops ended in 2009. 100,000 people are said to have died. the campaign stressed his achievement of ending the civil war. he had sought an unprecedented third term. the constitution banned a third term for presidents until it was revised. but many were critical of rajapaksa and accused of nep otism. he worked to improve the economy after the war while strengthen strengthening ties with china. the government was at odds with united nations and western countries and want him to account for mass killings in the stages of the civil war. china is helping to construct seaports in sri lanka and other nations near india. this strategy of encirc

>> it is clear that tamil people voted against mahinda rajapaksa.y voted against the president who committed war crime against tamil people, and continued to commit atrocities. they didn't vote - they didn't have a choice. they didn't have a tamil candidate, so they voted for somebody better than the previous president. what they are looking for, they wanted a change. they are hoping that the president-elect would deliver with the support and the pressure from the international community has to be there. it's important international community puts pressure and continues pressure going back on the justice process, the international process starting with the u.n. human rights group. u.n. high commissioner's investigation. it's not going back. putting further pressure on sri lanka, the government to cooperate with the u.n. resolution and set up the tribunal to look into the ong structural genocide against the people. >> thank you very much indeed for talking to us at al jazeera >>> indonesian divers lifted the tail section from the crashed airasia out

they want to top the top judge appointed by president rajapaksa, to step down. >> reporter: the first workday in colombo. they want the new president to act on his promises. they say former president rajapaksa's appointment of chief justice was totally illegal. >> he will take somebody's side, which means there won't be justice, there won't be independence of the judiciary. it has to be independent and it can only happen if the chief justice and every other judge follow politician of their own party. >> reporter: the previous regime had absolutely no respect for benchmark of democracy. judiciary became the judiciary of the president. >> president sarasena promised part of his 100 day plan, to end cronyism of the system. it is apparent that they want action now. >>> south korea's president says she's open to a summit with north korea. park guen hai says that end to north korea's nuclear program should remain part of the discussion. >> president park has already said she would be willing to speak to kim jong-un in a summit. but there would need to be progress from the talks and not just

voters will choose between mahinda rajapaksa and maithripala sirisena, the general secretary of the free party. maithripala sirisena is relatively unknown. he served as health minister, but redined in november when he announced his candidacy. we're live now in columbo. let start off with the election violence first. what more do you know about that that? >> reporter: there have been a number of incidents of election violence that we've seen. the incidents that we've seen, escalating over the last few days as we come to the ending stages of this presidential election campaign. yesterday we had an end where an unidentified gunman open fired on supporters of the opposition candidate. now today we just heard a short while early thatier, that a local magistrate has ordered the arrest of a deputy minister and two horse who are suspected to be behind that incident. there have been a number of incidents where supporters of different political parties have been assaulted. there have been a number of incidents. the number of incidents of election violence topping 250 to 200. there have been reason

arguments spokesperson for president maithripala sirisena said that rajapaksa tried to block the vote as it showed that he was heading to defeat. the police refused to back the former president. meanwhile thousands gathered to hear president maithripala sirisena. he pledged to attack poverty and unite all ethnic and religious groups in the country. and suggested improving relations with western countries. >>> let's get more now from charles strad stratford who is in the capitol of colombo. >> in the early hours of january 9th, just as votes were beginning to come in, it seems that former president rajapaks did not like what he was saying. the army chief was told to come up with a legal means by which he could retain office as president. after discussions neither parties both representatives of the attorney general and the army chief were basically were prepared to play ball, and it was then that they decided to concede defeat to the now president sirisena. the president has been in kandy he has been addressing the nation there from one of the historic sites in that city. he has been t

rajapaksa losing.n, service and -- sirisena winning/ . >> there has been a huge governance deficit. the corruption, the family dynastic project, etc. >> indeed, that is perhaps one of the reasons why he was kicked out of office, essentially. this is going to be top on mr. siriawsena's to-do list. what do you anticipate he is going to do? >> as you probably know, he's got a plan. the central focus of that plan is the -- of the parts of the executive presidency. that opens the door to corruption and plutocracy. i think the first demonstration of his sincerity is going to come with the implementation of that plan. the plan also promises to bring legislation into sri lanka as well. in a sense, he's got to hit the road running and demonstrate. >> how is he going to deal with international criticism, after the end of the civil war particularly? >> two things, one, he has promised that the foreign policy of sri lanka will be a lot more evenhanded. he has suggested that it has become much too dependent on chin

remember that rajapaksa had called the election two years early. the new government has promised to look into these reports but at this stage this is the early stages. we've just seen the ministers being sworn in, so it will take a little while yet to see results and more clear information on that. >> thank you very much, indeed, on that. in colombo there. >>> now u.s. secretary of state has arrived in pakistan to hold talks with leaders about counter terrorism. students return to the schools in peshawar that was the fight of the worst attacks. 150 people, most of them children were killed when boko haram attacked the school. many schools around pakistan has created security. >> the mood is defined. parents are concerned about the security of their children, and while the military-run school will now have top-notch security private institutions such as this college here in peshawar will really have to beef you have their security with razor wire, metal detecters, and situations that are not conducive for education in this country. this is a country

rajapaksa. >> this man has been baking bread here for years. he has children. he earns around $10 a day. >> the government we elected has come in power. that's very good for us. the important thing we wanted to change has happened. >> we hope to live in peace, and that this government will not make the same mistakes as the previous one. we hope that they will look after the poor. >> this is a typical working-class neighborhood in colombo. people here are involved in small businesses. they have shops, they are traders, it's important to know that 80% of the votes from central colombo neighborhoods like this one. celebrating his 60th birthday today. he has been a mechanic for 35 years. >> the government has happened with the grace of god. it living costs drop we'll have achieved our goal in choosing this president. we are hoping for development and if development comes we will be very happy. >> just a few of the millions of people here hoping for change. on a day which their president calls the beginning of a new political era for sri lanka. charles stratford al

early hours of january 9th as the votes were beginning to come in it seems that former president rajapaksalike what he was hearing. we hear he called a meeting with representatives of the attorney general and the army chief in a bid so we are told to come up with a legal in which he could retain. neither parties both representatives of the attorney general and the arm chief were prepared to play ball. he decided to concede defeat. the new president has been up in kandi, the city of kandi, great significance in terms of sri lanka's identity. he has been addressing the nation there from one of the historic sites in that city talking about his 100-day plan to end what is described here as the executive powers of the president, the executive presidential powers. he also said that this country was was in no need of a king but a leader for the people. he invited all members of the opposition, the n.o. w. opposition to help join in and form a unity, a national government of unity here, and he thanked his supporters for what is surprised being a victory for what he describes as a new political era

he's from a powerful family his father rajapaksa ran. he succeeded his father at the age of 24, and became president in 2005. in constrast. sirisena is unknown, not joining mainstream politics. he served as health minister but resigned in november when announcing his candidacy. >> let's speak to a member of parliament who joins us now via skype. thank you very much indeed for speaking to us. the president called the election because he seemed confident of winning this third term in office. it's proving to be a tough battle. do you think he can win this? >> no i think he was counting on the present opposition standing against him. that is difficult. the health minister is part of the cabinet. who had been very supportive in twine. who like some of us was on the government side found in the last four or five years, the president and his family were more corrupt and were not taking the president's main risk. a couple of other senior figures in the election were never consulted about anything. there was a lot of anguish on the part of people

nation of sri lanka has elected a new president, dealing an unexpected defeat to president mahina rajapaksawho has ruled the country for nearly a decade. rajapaska is credited with defeating the tamil tigers in 2009 after a 26-year civil war. he is accused of presiding over war crimes in the complex final stages. his opponent, maithripala sirisena, who won the election was acting defense minister during the bloody final days of the conflict. in the mexican state of veracruz, 13 local police have been detained over the disappearance of a journalist. moises sanchez, who reported on drug-related violence and corruption, was kidnapped from his home in medellin de bravo earlier this month. the 13 officers detained constitute about a third of the municipal force there. in saudi arabia, an imprisoned activist is facing a public flogging today as part of a sentence of 1,000 lashes. sentenced to 1000 lashes for charges including consulting islam. amnesty international says raif badawi prisoner of conscience who is being punished for exercising freedom of speech. we'll have more on saudi arabia and i