In January 2015 Sri Lanka elected a new President Maithripala Sirisena. President Sirisena was swept to power on a wave of Anti Rajapaksa sentiment and had pledged to end the culture of fear, nepotism and corruption that had been the hallmark of Rajapaksa's 10 year presidency. As part of this pledge President Sirisena called for the restoration of a free press and the right to freedom of Speech. No Fire Zone presented him (via the Sri Lankan Hgh Commission in London) a special copy of the Sinhala version of No Fire Zone complete with a recorded message from the films director Callum Macrae.