The Sri Lankan prime minister returned home today to a wave of public support as he declared a peace bid with Tamil rebels, at the heart of a power struggle with the island's president, must stay on track.
Fresh from receiving a seal of approval for his peace bid in the United States, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe was mobbed by rapturous crowds, garlanded with flowers and bowed to a group of Buddhist monks after he stepped off a plane in Colombo.
Tens of thousands of well-wishers lined the highway from the airport chanting his name, dancing and waving banners as his convoy travelled at a walking pace into the capital. It took more than six hours to make the 21-kilometre trip.
"Parliament must reassemble. It is the only body with a mandate for negotiations," Mr Wickremesinghe said, three days after President Chandrika Kumaratunga suspended parliament and sparked a crisis that threatens a 20-month ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger rebels.
But in a bizarre twist, the president's office said there was no state of emergency, although officials had said on Wednesday it had been declared.
There had been no denials over the last two days about the emergency, which set off alarm bells on the island and criticism around the world.