"As for what I achieved in the first term, I have brought peace to this country. Eliminated terrorism and brought peace. Now my aim is to develop the country. After that, the priorities are the people whom we have to win over – the hearts and minds of the people. Now Sri Lanka is one country; it's not divided. So what we want is to see that the whole nation gets all the benefits, not only one area, not only one community. To develop the economy so that all the people benefit."

“It is a revolution against a dictator . This should be a lesson for all South Asian countries. This verdict has opened up a free space through which the democratic values and reforms can be pushed in. People really wanted a change and wished to end the authoritarian rule of Rajapaksa.”

“Reflecting on the work of the UN, matters of a political nature have overridden the most basic issues, which affect the underprivileged and marginalized, who dominate world society.”

“We need an alternative. In the end, they are not punishing Iran. They are punishing us, small countries.”

“Discipline is not revenge. The nation can only be built through commitment, discipline and elimination of corruption.”

“I say: be fair. Be objective. Don't just come to conclusions based on one-sided "evidence.”

“We always support peace... and we will keep supporting peace for all people. In Sri Lanka we also fought thirty years of war against terrorists. So the whole development process, the economy went down. We suffered for thirty years but now we have peace for the last four years. In 2009 we managed to eradicate terrorism. Though we have eradicated terrorism, now we have to face the international community, which is pressurizing us. Now our issue is that some of the countries are criticizing though there are no bombs blasting in our country. Every March or every six months in Geneva we are facing a confrontation with these countries. Some of the Western countries are bringing resolutions in the Human Rights Commission.”