President Maithripala Sirisena said that he left the former government regardless of the threat to his life, adding that if he were to be defeated, he might have been even murdered.

Speaking at a rally in Polonnaruwa yesterday, he said that if he was to be defeated, he might be lying six feet underground by now.

This was the first time Sirisena visited Polonnaruwa after his election victory almost three weeks ago.

Sirisena added that the former government of Mahinda Rajapaksa had planned to arrest his children to 'torture' him by that means if he had lost the election.

He also said that there was no other option but accepting the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Chairmanship after the election. If not, the only option was to go for an election. If that were to happen, the 100 Day Program would have been jeopardized, Sirisena mentioned.

Maithripala Sirisena campaigned under considerable threat to his life. In the last days of the campaign, there were several attacks on political rallies he attended, including shooting incidents.