Namal, 38, will compete against President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on September 21. The son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Namal is currently an MP from the Hambantota district.
Sri Lanka news: Rajapaksa flew to Colombo around midnight Friday from Thailand and was escorted under military guard to his new home in the capital.
Rajapaksa arrived in Thailand with three other people on a chartered flight from Singapore at Wing 6 of the military airport adjacent to Don Mueang International Airport around 8 pm local time on Thursday.
Rajapaksa has resigned, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena officially announced on Friday, two days after the embattled leader fled the country in the face of massive protests.
Sri Lanka crisis: Rajapaksa, who had promised to resign on Wednesday instead appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Acting President hours after he fled to the Maldives, escalating political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests.
Sri Lanka crisis: Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh
Rajapaksa had responded to a letter from the chief monks of the four Buddhist chapters dated April 4 in which they had asked Rajapaksa to dissolve the Cabinet to set up an interim government.
Rajapaksa also said that none of the parties in the Sri Lankan Parliament has come forward to lend a hand. "So, as the party in power, the Government will take all possible steps to resolve the crisis." he said.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a nationwide public emergency amidst a spate of protests, including outside his house, over the worst economic crisis in the island nation.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday praised his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for extending help and cooperation to his country in several areas, including in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, as the two leaders held a "very successful" virtual summit and agreed to boost the "robust" bilateral ties.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that his country is against any country dominating the Indian Ocean and that it would stay neutral.
With the Rajapaksas once again in power after losing the 2015 election, human rights activists fear that there will be no progress in investigating the cases of alleged enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings during the government of Mahinda (2005-2015) when Gotabaya was the military chief and presided over the final offensive against the Tamil Tiger guerrillas.
The island nation plunged into a constitutional crisis after President Sirisena ousted Wickremesinghe and named Rajapaksa as the country's Prime Minister.
Colombo: Sri Lanka's new prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was sworn in Friday and the island nation's two major political parties — formerly bitter rivals — signed an agreement to work together in the new parliament.Their
Colombo: Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today said President Maithripala Sirisena should respect public mandate, a day after the SLFP chief vowed not to make him Prime Minister even if his coalition wins the
Colombo: Sri Lanka's president-elect Maithripala Sirisena Friday pledged not to take revenge against political foes, after defeating incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential election.As he left his home in Polonnaruwa province for Colombo after Rajapaksa
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called up Maithripala Sirisena to congratulate him on his victory in the Sri Lankan polls and assured him of India's continued solidarity and support to the country's peace
Washington: The US looks forward to working with Sri Lankan president-elect Maithripala Sirisena, Secretary of State John Kerry today said, as he commended outgoing President Mahinda Rajapaksa for accepting the election results.“I look forward to
Colombo: A Sri Lankan ruling coalition legislator has said that he would do everything to defeat President Mahinda Rajapaksa if he tried to hold Presidential election without amending the constitution. “What we see today is
New York: Furthering his ‘neighbourhood first' policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Bangladesh and Nepal and Sri Lankan President and discussed matters of common concern, including terrorism, while affirming
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