Colombo: Namal Rajapaksa, the 38-year-old heir to the influential Rajapaksa family and the son of former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, has announced his decision to run for Sri Lanka's Presidential elections next month, effectively bringing an end to the Rajapaksa family's backing to incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The competition to become the next Sri Lankan President has become tougher with Namal in the fray.
Sagara Kariyawasam, the general secretary of the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP, also known locally by its popular Sinhalese name, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna), announced the younger Rajapaksa’s candidacy early on Wednesday morning at a ceremony at the party headquarters. President Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake have already announced their nominations.
Wickremesinghe, who became the President in 2022 after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in the wake of the 2022 anti-government protests following a severe economic crisis, was backed by the Rajapaksas, including Mahinda and Basil Rajapaksa, in winning the parliamentary vote to take over Gotabaya's remaining term.
Helped by a $2.9 billion IMF bailout programme, Wickremesinghe has stitched back the shattered economy, bringing down inflation from a steep 70 per cent in September 2022 to 1.7 per cent in June, strengthening the rupee and rebuilding previously decimated foreign exchange reserves. But the nation is yet to recover from the effects of the economic turmoil and Namal's candidature has infused both hope and scepticism, the latter due to the controversies surrounding his family.
Who is Namal Rajapaksa?
Namal is the eldest son of former President and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa and is a member of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, founded by his uncle Basil, which has a parliamentary majority. His candidature for the upcoming elections was announced at the last minute after business tycoon Dhammika Perera pulled out of the contest due to personal reasons.
The 38-year-old graduated with a Law degree from the City University London and later joined Sri Lanka Law College as an attorney. He began his political journey by contesting the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the United People’s Freedom Alliance’s candidates in Hambantota District, where his father was an MP before becoming President in 2005. It was rumoured that Namal was being groomed to succeed his father in politics.
Despite holding no official position in the government, Namal made numerous foreign trips such as to the UN headquarters, Palestine, Japan and more. He was re-elected as an MP in 2015 and 2020 and served as the Minister of Youth and Sports in the latter term. He was compelled to resign during the mass resignation of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Cabinet as an economic crisis gripped the country.
High-profile friendships
In January this year, Namal visited the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the construction of the temple. "I think it is a historical temple and it's good to see that it has got back its old glory thanks to the current government, Prime Minister Modi and his administration. It is something that I think everyone should visit and experience," he told news agency ANI.
As a scion of a high-profile family, Namal has friendships with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Bollywood actor Salman Khan, Pakistani politician Bilawal Bhutto and ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeed Wazed Joy among others. However, he has often been criticised for nepotism and benefitting from his family's political legacy.
Namal has also faced allegations of corruption and money laundering linked to his businesses. He was also arrested in 2016 on charges of money laundering for accepting $480,000 from a real estate company, a year after Mahinda's election defeat, as per the New York Times. He was also accused of involvement in Sri Lankan rugby player Wasim Thajudeen's murder.
Sri Lanka's presidential elections
Meanwhile, the SLPP lost nearly 100 of its MPs after Wickremesinghe decided to contest the upcoming elections as an independent, condemning the party's decision to ditch the incumbent President. The SLPP has vowed disciplinary action against those who back Wickremesinghe, defying the party decision.
Namal Rajapaksa said he would hold talks with 92 parliamentarians who declared support for Wickremesinghe, splintering his uncle's SLPP and severely limiting support for his candidature. He also supported Sri Lanka's $10 billion restructuring deal with bilateral creditors and a $12.5-billion debt rework with bondholders.
Economic turmoil in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves, sparking political turmoil in the country which led to the ouster of the all-powerful Rajapaksa family. The island nation, which declared its first-ever credit default in mid-April last year, secured a bailout of $2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in March last year.
A quarter of the population was pushed into poverty and thousands were forced to migrate due to higher taxes imposed under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, prolonged inflation, and a stagnant job market. Tens and thousands of people took to the streets and demanded former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down for failing to tackle the nation's gravest economic crisis.
Bilateral creditors including Japan, China, and India signed up to a $10 billion debt rework last month, which gave Colombo breathing space to defer repayments for four years and save $5 billion. However, Sri Lanka still has to put the finishing touches on a preliminary agreement with bondholders on restructuring $12.5 billion of debt ahead of a third IMF review later this year.
(with inputs from agencies)
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