“I deny in all possible terms reports of attempts to use the military to influence election results,” Rajapaksa posted on his Twitter account, adding that he had “accepted the outcome long before the final official results were released.”
Earlier, an aide of Sri Lanka’s newly-elected president Maithripala Sirisena said that Rajapaksa had planned to stage a coup to retake power after losing the election.
Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president in 2005 and re-elected in 2010. After being elected for the second term, Rajapaksa amended the Sri Lankan Constitution, eliminating the two-term presidential limit.
In the wake of widespread disaffection with his administration, Rajapaksa called snap elections in November 2014, two years before the end of his second term.
In the January 8 election, Rajapaksa was outvoted by opponent Maithripala Sirisena, a candidate for the United National Party (UNP) and formerly Rajapaksa’s ally. Sirisena won the election with 51 percent of the vote.
