Â鶹APP

Mahinda Rajapaksa by khamenei.ir from

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Mahinda Rajapaksa

In office from 19 November 2005 to 9 January 2015, Percy Mahendra “Mahinda” Rajapaksa is a politician from Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa, an attorney by trade, won his first seat in Sri Lanka’s Parliament in 1970. Up until his election as president in 2005, he was in office as prime minister starting on April 6, 2004. On November 19, 2005, he took the oath of office for his initial six-year presidency. On January 27, 2010, he won reelection for a second term.

Here are some interesting facts about him.

1. He was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970

Mahinda Rajapaksa by Prime Minister’s Office from

Rajapaksa, a lawyer by profession, was initially chosen to serve in Sri Lanka’s Parliament in 1970. He presided over the Sri Lanka Freedom Party as its leader from 2005 to 2015. On November 19, 2005, Rajapaksa took office as president for the first time, serving a six-year tenure.

After winning a second term in government, he was re-elected in 2010. Rajapaksa was ousted from office on January 9, 2015, when Maithripala Sirisena defeated him in the race for a third term.

The United People’s Freedom Alliance lost the 2015 legislative election but was chosen as the Member of Parliament for the Kurunegala District. Later that year, Rajapaksa attempted to win the position of prime minister but was unsuccessful.

2. Rajapaksa was appointed to the office of prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena 

Following the United People’s Freedom Alliance’s withdrawal from the unity government on October 26, 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena nominated Rajapaksa for the position of prime minister.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the incumbent, resisted being fired because he believed it to be against the constitution. There was a constitutional crisis as a result of this disagreement. On November 14 and 16, 2018, the Sri Lankan Parliament approved two motions of no confidence against Rajapaksa. President Sirisena disregarded protocol and rejected both.

3. His brother swore him in as Prime Minister 

Gotabaya Rajapaksa by Government of India from

In 2019, Rajapaksa split the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to lead the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. On November 21, 2019, he was reappointed as prime minister by his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had just been elected president of Sri Lanka in the previous day’s election.

At a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Colombo, Rajapaksa took the oath of office for the fourth time as prime minister of Sri Lanka on August 9, 2020. Opposition leaders announced a motion of no confidence against Rajapaksa and his government on May 3, 2022.

4. He and his family were accused of corruption

Mahinda Rajapaksa Joena Bonnelame from

He was targeted during the 2022 Sri Lankan Protests over the Rajapaksa family’s corruption and poor management, which caused an economic catastrophe and the country to default on its loans for the first time ever since independence. His resignation was requested by demonstrators who referred to him as “Myna,” but he resisted.

5. He organized for protestors to be attached by his loyalists 

Mahinda Rajapaksa organised his supporters, who arrived by buses and were led by SLPP MPs, on May 9, 2022, at his official residence.

As attacks were being made against protestors in other places, the loyalists then attacked those at Temple Trees before attacking those at Galle Face. However, this stoked the protests, and retaliatory violence against Rajapaksa loyalists broke out island-wide. Mahinda Rajapaksa then submitted his letter of resignation the same day.

6. He’s been accused of multiple war crimes

Throughout his political career, Rajapaksa has been charged with numerous crimes, including war crimes committed during the final years of the Sri Lankan civil war and other offences like corruption and inciting violence against opposition protesters on May 9, 2022.

A report by an expert panel assembled by the UN and released in April 2011 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that the final weeks of the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the government forces resulted in the deaths of up to 40,000 people.  A number of foreign news organisations and journalists, including the UK’s Channel Four News, have documented and reported on evidence of targeted civilian killings, massacres, and executions. Female Tamil militants who died seemed to have been raped or sexually assaulted, mistreated and killed.

7. Rajapaksa was accused of election fraud 

Regarding each of his prior presidential campaigns, Rajapaksa was charged with election fraud. The LTTE was allegedly paid by Rajapaksa during the 2005 presidential election to prevent voters in the northern and eastern provinces from casting their ballots.

The majority of voters in these areas were coercively prevented from casting their ballots by the militant organisation, even though observers claim they would have supported opposition candidate Ranil Wickremesinghe. Rajapaksa was charged with using computers to allegedly rig the 2010 election.

According to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry looking into Sri Lankan Airlines’ irregularities, it was discovered that Rajapaksa’s 2015 presidential campaign utilised security personnel and cars from the national carrier. Until Rajapaksa lost the presidential election in 2015, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, Rajapaksa’s brother-in-law, served as Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines.

8. Rajapaksa has been accused of nepotism

Rajapaksa has come under fire for allegedly engaging in nepotism when he appointed three of his brothers to lead crucial ministries and gave other political positions to family members regardless of their qualifications.

The Rajapaksa family held the positions of ministers of finance and planning, defence, ports and aviation, and of building roads and highways. He has appointed people, such as his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, who was appointed Defense Secretary without a vote; he oversaw the armed forces, the police, and the Coast Guard, and was in charge of immigration and emigration.

Basil Rajapaksa, a different brother, was nominated by Rajapaksa as the minister of economic development. From 2010 until 2015, his elder brother Chamal Rajapaksa served as Sri Lanka’s Parliament Speaker. During their rule, the Rajapaksa family held sway over more than 70% of Sri Lanka’s budget.

For a very long time, Rajapaksa has consistently refuted accusations made against him, his relatives, and his political allies. Additionally, he is frequently accused of employing members of his family for official tasks, which he has denied.

9. He’s been accused of media censoring 

The former President of Sri Lanka by Prime Minister’s Office from

Media organisations claim that during Rajapaksa’s time as president, media freedom in Sri Lanka was restricted.

Sri Lanka was placed 165th out of 173 nations in Reporters Without Borders’ annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2008. The nation was rated 162 the subsequent year. After the fighting ended in 2010, the RSF was ranked 158th. Independent newspapers in Sri Lanka have questioned these rankings.

10. Rajapaksa is accused of creating a cult of personality

Mahinda Rajapaksa by President’s Secretariat from

Rajapaksa is charged with leveraging his civil war win and Sinhala nationalism to construct a cult of personality around himself. Some of his admirers referred to him as a “King,” and he made himself out to be a tough guy in the media. His images were prominently shown when he was in charge on billboards, buses, and in all media.

He was referred to as “our father” and “the father of the country” in television advertisements that featured schoolchildren singing songs at his rallies. Rajapaksa also had his image put on money and gave himself the name “Mihin Lanka” for the low-cost airline. Rajapaksa believed that having his name in the sky would bring him luck.