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Sri Lanka mourns demise of influential monk

Xinhua, November 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sri Lanka on Sunday mourned the demise of an influential monk who played a key role in pushing for a change of government in the country.

The government declared Thursday as a day of National mourning for the funeral of the venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha who passed away on Sunday while receiving treatment in Singapore.

Maduluwawe Sobitha launched a campaign last year to push for a new president and government to replace then president Mahinda Rajapaksa and gathered wide support for incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena.

The monk called for constitutional changes, including reducing the powers in the hands of the president and Sirisena agreed to the proposal and contested the January presidential election, which he eventually won.

The government said that the funeral of Maduluwawe Sobitha will be held with full state honors on Thursday near the country's parliament.

President Maithripala Sirisena said that he was deeply saddened by the demise of the venerable Maduluwawe Sobitha and added that the greatest honor Sri Lanka can give him is to make his vision for Sri Lanka a reality. Endit