Sri Lanka is all set for its next presidential elections in the coming month and the Rajapaksas are trying to make a return. Namal Rajapaksa is set to contest for the top job in the island country and is looking to carry on his family’s illustrious, but controversial, legacy. The decision makes the family’s stand clear – they no longer support Ranil Wickremesinghe. They had earlier supported his candidacy in 2022 after the family was humiliated and forced into stepping down by the Sri Lankan people, as a civil war like condition ensued.
General secretary of Sri Lanka People’s Front or Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Sagara Kariyawasam, announced Namal Rajapaksa as the party’s candidate. Wednesday’s development follows the defection of nearly 100 SLPP MPs to support Wickremesinghe after he declared his independent candidacy. These MPs have criticized their party’s decision to abandon the sitting president. In response, the SLPP has threatened disciplinary action against members who support him in defiance of the party’s stance.
Namal’s candidacy was a last-minute decision by the party. Business tycoon Dhammika Perera, the preferred candidate, informed the party on Tuesday that he was unable to run due to personal reasons, sources said.
Who is Namal Rajapaksa?
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa is a member of the Sri Lankan parliament. He is the son of former President and former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and nephew of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He was the Minister of Youth and Sports from 2020 to 2022, before the popular and violent uprising that ousted his powerful family from power.
Born on 10 April 1986, the youngest scion of Rajapaksa family is only 38 making him the youngest candidate for the Presidential Elections. He has two younger brothers – Yoshitha and Rohitha and is married to Limini Weerasinghe since 2019, with whom he has 2 children. He is a law graduate from London. He played rugby in his growing up years, even taking up the sport professionally. In 2010, he started playing for the national union team and in 2013 was appointed captain, before retiring in 2014.
Namal Rajapaksa contested his first elections in 2010 as a candidate of the United People’s Freedom Alliance from Hambantota District, a seat earlier held by his father. Ever since then he is being groomed to follow his father’s footsteps and continue the family legacy. He was re-elected to Parliament in 2015 and 2020, when he became a minister as well.
When are the elections and who are in the race?
The next presidential elections in Sri Lanka are set to be held on 21 September 2024. These will be the first elections after the violent uprising in the country two years ago that led to the resignation of former President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the middle of his term and was a particularly difficult time in the country’s polity.
Incumbent Pres. Ranil Wickremesinghe, is running for re-election as an independent candidate and is likely to make a return. Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya alliance and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, founder of the left-wing National People’s Power (NPP) or Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) alliance are also in the fray. Other candidates include Field Marshall Sarath Fonseka, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Siritunga Jayasuriya, Dilith Jayaweera, Janaka Ratnayake, among others.
The earlier three-way contest between Wickremesinghe, Premadasa and Dissanayake might have just become a four-way battle with the entry of the Rajapaksa scion. But with more than a month to go for the elections, only time will tell what is in store for the future of Sri Lanka.
