New Year sans celebrations for President Maithripala Sirisena

New Year sans celebrations for President Maithripala Sirisena

The coordinating secretary to President

Maithripala Sirisena, Rajika Kodituwakku has announced that President Maithripala Sirisena has intimated to him that he would not celebrate this year’s Sinhala New Year and to inform all media.

It is a traditional custom of the Sinhalese families in this country to refrain from celebrating Sinhala New Year with the bereavement of a family member during that particular year. President Maithripala Sirisena’s youngest brother met with an untimely death last month and hence he follows the same tradition.

It had been the practice over the past decade or more for the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to have all the rituals conducted according to Sinhala traditions on the New Year day at auspicious times at ‘Carlton’ which was given focus of the electronic media.

Although the media had expected to have such a media exhibition at Polonnaruwa.,all attempts of the media had proved futile.