Rajapaksa

A Sri Lankan Cabinet sub-committee will soon review the privileges accorded to former presidents of the country and future actions on the matter will be taken based on its recommendations, the Presidential Secretariat has said. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's office on Friday also refuted reports that the security of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has been reduced. The statement by the Presidential Secretariat came after concerns raised by ex-presidents that the new Sri Lankan government under President Dissanayake would slash their privileges. In the run-up to the September 21 election, Dissanayake had vowed to stop all privileges of ex-presidents claiming they were a burden on the taxpayer. In recent days the government has faced criticism over the reported move to slash the personal security provided to former president Rajapaksa. "The Presidential Secretariat has noted recent media reports claiming that the security of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been reduc

When an uprising ousted Sri Lanka's president, many saw it as the end of his powerful family's hold on the island nation after more than 12 years of rule. Now, as Sri Lanka prepares to elect a new leader, Namal Rajapaksa is running for president. The 38-year-old is the son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the nephew of the ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Namal Rajapaksa is presenting himself as an agent of change, but many see his bid for presidency as an attempt by the controversial political dynasty to regain power. By mid-2022, the clan's political career seemed in ruins. Some of its members were forced into hiding in military camps after angry protesters stormed their residences. Others simply gave up their seats in the government as people blamed them for hurtling the country of more than 20 million people into an economic crisis. Two years later, the family shunned and pushed to political wilderness is trying make a comeback via the Rajapaksa heir apparent who

Namal Rajapaksa, the 38-year-old heir to the Rajapaksa dynasty, was on Wednesday named as the SLPP candidate for the presidential election, thus officially ending Rajapaksa family's backing to the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe. 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. Namal's entry has made the election a four-cornered contest. Besides, President Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are already in the fray. The Rajapaksas Mahinda, Basil and Gotabaya were instrumental in Wickremesinghe winning the parliamentary vote in July 2022 to take over Gotabaya's remaining term. It was soon after the unprecedented development of mid-April 2022 when the island nation declared its first-ever

Sri Lanka's powerful Rajapaksa clan, which suffered political battering due to the country's worst economic crisis in 2022, will launch its political comeback bid on Sunday by targeting the impending elections. Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa were ousted from power during anti-government protests following the crippling financial and political crisis in 2022. The ruling Sri Lanka People's Front of the Rajapaksas, commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), will hold a public rally later in the day in the north central rural town of Thalawa, party member and former minister SM Chandrasena told reporters. He said that Mahinda Rajapaksa would inaugurate the rally, aiming to prepare the party grassroots for the major elections - the presidential or the parliamentary. We will start our campaign to gear the party for whatever the election that comes first, Chandrasena ...

The ruling was delivered based on the majority view of the five-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been questioned by police over the discovery of a large amount of cash in his office-cum-residence when he fled the country for safety as thousands of protesters stormed the place in July last year. "A three-hour long statement was recorded on Monday at his private house as directed by the court," police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa told reporters. The protesters who occupied the President's House in the capital in July last year said that they had discovered over 17 million rupees in cash and handed over the money to the Colombo Fort police. The police reported the matter to the court, which ordered a statement to be recorded from Rajapaksa on the discovery of cash. The 73-year-old disgraced former president fled Sri Lanka on July 13 last year to the Maldives. From there, he travelled to Singapore from where he sent in his resignation on July 14, paving the way for the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe to take over the presidential rein

Sri Lanka's ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was issued a notice by the Supreme Court on Thursday over a presidential pardon granted by him to a former lawmaker of his party who was convicted in a murder of a party colleague in 2011. Rajapaksa, who pardoned Duminda Silva-- a former parliamentarian from his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, has been issued a second summons since he left office in July this year. Silva who was sentenced to death in 2017 for involvement in the 2011 murder of a party colleague and ex-MP, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, and four others, was freed in June 2021 after Rajapaksa granted him a presidential pardon. However, the Supreme Court in May this year quashed the pardoning and ordered Silva to be arrested again. He is expected to appear as a respondent before the Supreme Court on December 16 for the hearing of a fundamental rights petition filed by Premachandra's wife and daughter. Similarly, in mid-October, the highest court issued a summo

Much has changed since demonstrators drove Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office in July, the climax of months of protests after record-high inflation and depleted currency reserves bankrupted the nation

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has returned to social media to tweet about the stunning victory of Sri Lanka's national cricket team over Pakistan, over two months after the former president fled the country amidst massive protests against his government. Sri Lanka crushed Pakistan by 23 runs to win their sixth Asia Cup title in Dubai on Sunday, bringing much cheer to the people of the crisis-hit island nation who have been hit hard by the worst economic crisis. "Congratulations to the #lka cricket team on the win against #Pakistan in the #AsiaCup2022Final in Dubai. The commitment and teamwork shown by the #SriLankan team have been remarkable," Rajapaksa, who returned to Colombo from Thailand on September 2 tweeted on Sunday. His last tweet as president was on July 8 to condole the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. However, the 73-year-old was also trolled by some for his tweet from the "Official Twitter Account of The 7th Executive President of Sri Lanka," indicating that he

Sri Lanka's former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa left for the US on Friday to receive medical treatment, a week after the Supreme Court allowed him to travel overseas until January 15, media reports said. Basil Rajapaksa, the younger brother of ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, left for Dubai on an Emirates flight from Katunayake Airport, from where he will catch a connecting flight to the US, Daily Mirror Lanka newspaper reported, quoting officials. On September 2, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court's five-bench headed by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya permitted Basil, 71, to travel overseas, until January 15 next year to receive medical treatment. The Supreme Court made this order in connection with a Fundamental Rights petition filed by Sri Lankan swimmer and coach Julian Bolling, former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne, Transparency International and Jehan Canaga Retna, the Mirror report said. The petitioners are seeking an order to take legal action

Sri Lanka's former president Chandrika Kumaratunga on Tuesday blamed the Rajapaksa family for the country's current economic crisis, saying they and their friends thought they owned the nation and its assets and could get away with anything. Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka's first and only female president to date, said actions taken by the Rajapaksa regimes had led to a serious crisis situation in the country. "Not only the Rajapaksas, but the government representatives around them, their friends, and associates are also to be blamed for the prevailing crisis," the Daily Mirror, an online newspaper quoted the 77-year-old Kumaratunga as saying. Her remarks came during the opening of the new office of the Nawa Lanka Freedom Party' in Battaramulla. The party is led by former minister and Kalutara District parliamentarian Kumara Welgama. Kumaratunga said that the Rajapaksas and those who ruled the country after 2005 had thought they owned the country and its assets. "They thought they could a

Writing to Ranil Wickremesinghe, the HRCSL stated that Rajapaksa is entitled to certain privileges and benefits under law and government should take necessary steps to ensure his security to return

US and Canada along with the EU have expressed concern over Sri Lanka's use of Prevention of Terrorism Act on protestors who participated in the agitation that led to Gotabaya Rajapaksa stepping down

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reached out to his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to finalise arrangements and facilitate his return to the crisis-hit country, a media report said on Monday. Rajapaksa, 73, fled the country and resigned last month in the face of a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the island nation's economy. He is currently staying in a hotel in Bangkok with his wife Loma Rajapaksa. The Daily Mirror newspaper, citing highly-placed sources, claimed Wickremesinghe is reported to have contacted Rajapaksa to discuss arrangements for his return to the country. The move comes after the ruling party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, National Organiser Basil Rajapaksa met Wickremesinghe recently and called for the former president's early return to the country, the report said. The date of Rajapaksa's return has still not been finalised, it said, amid reports that he may arrive here this week from Bangkok. Last week, the main Opposition pa

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country last month amidst massive anti-government protests calling for his resignation, is awaiting to obtain a US Green Card to return to America and settle there with his wife and son, a media report said on Thursday. Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror, citing highly-placed sources, claimed that Rajapaksa's lawyers in the United States had already begun the procedure last month for his application to obtain the Green Card as he was eligible to apply due to his wife Loma Rajapaksa being a US citizen. In 2019, Rajapaksa renounced his US citizenship to contest the 2019 presidential polls. Rajapaksa took early retirement from the Sri Lanka Army and moved into the field of information technology, before immigrating to the United States in 1998. He returned to Sri Lanka in 2005, The procedure will also now involve his lawyers in Colombo submitting the additional documents here in order to go ahead with the procedure, the daily

Sri Lanka has been facing its worst economic-political crisis, which led to massive protests in the country that forced Rajapaksa to flee abroad and also hand in his resignation last month

Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka on August 24, his cousin Udayanga Weeratunga said on Wednesday, over a month after the former president fled the country amid mass anti-government protests over an unprecedented economic crisis. Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is grappling with its worst economic turmoil in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. The massive protests that began in March culminated with Rajapaksa's resignation. "He talked to me on the phone, I can tell you he will return to the country next week, said Weeratunga, who was Sri Lanka's ambassador to Russia from 2006 to 2015. Rajapaksa could return on August 24, he said, adding that the ousted president should not be re-elected for political positions. But he can still do some service to the country as he had done previously, Weeratunga said of the 73-year-old former Sri Lankan president. Rajapaksa is currently staying at a hotel in Bangkok in th

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is not using state funds for any expenses he makes abroad: Sri Lanka

The Thailand Foreign Ministry said it received a request from Rajapaksa to visit the country with no intention of seeking political asylum.

Sri Lanka's ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa left Singapore for Thailand after his short-term visit pass expired on Thursday, according to a media report. Rajapaksa boarded a flight from Singapore to Bangkok, after Thailand confirmed a day before that it had received a request from the current Sri Lankan government for him to visit the country. Responding to media queries, Singapore's Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said that Rajapaksa left Singapore on Thursday, The Straits Times newspaper reported. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday confirmed a temporary visit to Thailand by the 73-year-old embattled Sri Lankan leader for humanitarian reasons, and said he promised not to conduct political activities in the kingdom during his search for permanent asylum in another country. Rajapaksa, who is currently in Singapore after fleeing Sri Lanka in July amid mass anti-government protests, is seeking refuge in Thailand as his Singapore visa runs out on Thursday. After ...