Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Rajapaksa fails, for now” (August 19). The vote against Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa and the vote for Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe was the rejection of the former’s brand of authoritarian politics and the endorsement of the latter’s accommodative politics.
Mr Rajapaksa’s relegation will create a conducive atmosphere to move towards an improvement in the relations between the Sinhala and the Tamil communities. The reconciliation process can take off with incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena and presumptive Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe showing the needed political will to go ahead with facilitating the return of the displaced Tamils to their homes, releasing the innocent Tamils languishing in jails and coming out with the truth about the mass killings of innocent Tamil civilians in the last phase of the war.