91 Facts About Mahinda Rajapaksa

1.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005,2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021.

2.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has been a Member of Parliament for Kurunegala since 2015.

3.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party from 2005 to 2015.

4.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in for his first six-year term as president on 19 November 2005.

5.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected in 2010 for a second term.

6.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in his bid for a third term in the 2015 presidential election by Maithripala Sirisena, and he left office on 9 January 2015.

7.

Later that year, Mahinda Rajapaksa unsuccessfully sought to become Prime Minister in the 2015 parliamentary election; that year, the United People's Freedom Alliance was defeated but was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Kurunegala District.

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8.

On 26 October 2018, Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed to the office of prime minister by President Maithripala Sirisena after the United People's Freedom Alliance withdrew from the unity government.

9.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from the post of prime minister on 15 December 2018.

10.

Wickremesinghe was re-appointed as Prime Minister, and Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed Leader of the Opposition.

11.

Mahinda Rajapaksa became the leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna in 2019, splitting the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

12.

Mahinda Rajapaksa became Prime Minister again on 21 November 2019 after being appointed by his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had become president on 18 November after winning the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election.

13.

On 9 August 2020, Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the fourth time at a Buddhist temple on Colombo's outskirts.

14.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was targeted during the 2022 Sri Lankan Protests over the corruption and mismanagement by the Rajapaksa family which led to an economic crisis that brought Sri Lanka to the point of bankruptcy as it defaulted on its loans for the first time in its history since independence.

15.

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

16.

Mahinda Rajapaksa spent his formative years at the family home in Medamulana.

17.

Mahinda Rajapaksa became a member of the Ceylon Mercantile Union and was elected its branch secretary in 1967.

18.

Chamal who had joined the Ceylon Police Force as a Sub-inspector, turndown Mrs Bandaranaike's offer in favour of his younger brother and Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as SLFP organiser for Beliatta in 1968.

19.

Mahinda Rajapaksa contested the 1970 general elections as the SLFP candidate for the Beliatta constituency and was elected to the House of Representatives having gained 23,103 votes against his rival Dr Ranjit Atapattu from the United National Party who gained 16,477.

20.

In July 1977, Mahinda Rajapaksa lost his parliamentary seat in SLFP's landslide defeat in the 1977 general elections, to Dr Ranjit Atapattu who had gained 24,289 votes to Mahinda Rajapaksa's 17,896.

21.

In November 1977, Mahinda Rajapaksa was called to the bar as an attorney at law.

22.

Mahinda Rajapaksa thereafter started his legal practice in criminal law in the Unofficial Bar in Tangalle, which he did until 1994.

23.

Mahinda Rajapaksa continued to engage in politics and was re-elected to parliament in 1989, representing Hambantota District under proportional representation.

24.

Mahinda Rajapaksa came to prominence as a leader, together with Dr Manorani Saravanamuttu of the Mothers' Front.

25.

Mahinda Rajapaksa frequently complained about Sri Lanka's situation while in Geneva; he claimed that to restore democratic ideals, it is neither treacherous nor unpatriotic to seek third-party intervention.

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26.

Mahinda Rajapaksa demanded that the United Nations, alongside NGOs such as Amnesty International, be allowed to come to Sri Lanka and investigate.

27.

Mahinda Rajapaksa requested that foreign nations put human-rights-related conditions on Sri Lanka when giving aid.

28.

In 1994, following the election victory of the People's Alliance, a political front led by Sri Lanka Freedom Party and headed by Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Labor.

29.

Mahinda Rajapaksa held this post until 1997 when, following a cabinet reshuffle, his portfolio was changed to Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

30.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was however appointed as Leader of the Opposition in March 2002.

31.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka's 13th Prime Minister on 6 April 2004.

32.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was chosen by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party to run against Ranil Wickremesinghe, former Prime Minister and Opposition Leader.

33.

Mahinda Rajapaksa's opponents claimed that he won only because the LTTE called for Tamil voters to boycott the polls.

34.

Immediately following his election in 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa extended the term of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Sarath Fonseka, less than 30 days before he was scheduled to retire.

35.

The agreement made with Mahinda Rajapaksa included provisions that called for a revision of the ceasefire agreement to give the military broader powers against the LTTE, as well as ruling out any devolution of power to the Tamil people.

36.

On 19 May 2009, President Mahinda Rajapaksa delivered a victory address to the Parliament and declared that Sri Lanka was liberated from terrorism.

37.

In 2010, WikiLeaks made public classified US messages sent during 2009 and 2010, stating that American diplomats, including the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia A Butenis, believed that Rajapaksa was responsible for massacres of Tamil civilians and captured LTTE fighters at the end of the war against the LTTE.

38.

On 15 November 2009, Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered Fonseka to leave his post as Chief of the Defence Staff with immediate effect through a letter from his secretary.

39.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed documents for the release of Fonseka in May 2012.

40.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was accused of election fraud in relation to both of his previous presidential election runs.

41.

At the time, Nishantha Wickramasinghe, a brother-in-law of Mahinda Rajapaksa, was Chairman of SriLankan Airlines until Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the presidential election in 2015.

42.

Two years ahead of schedule, in November 2014, Mahinda Rajapaksa signed an official proclamation confirming that he would seek re-election for a third term, after being unanimously endorsed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

43.

Mahinda Rajapaksa received the backing of a number of small constituent parties of the UPFA, including the Ceylon Workers' Congress, Communist Party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the National Freedom Front, the National Union of Workers, and the Up-Country People's Front.

44.

Mahinda Rajapaksa received support from the Buddhist extremist group Bodu Bala Sena.

45.

The manifesto pledged to establish a transparent judicial inquiry into the alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War, but Mahinda Rajapaksa had refused to co-operate with the UN investigation.

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46.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had agreed to Chinese terms and was seen as an important ally in China's efforts to tilt influence away from India in South Asia.

47.

Affiliates of Mahinda Rajapaksa's campaign received at least $7.6 million that was dispensed from China Harbor's account at Standard Chartered Bank.

48.

Mahinda Rajapaksa responded in the Colombo Telegraph by calling the article "part of a political mudslinging campaign".

49.

Mahinda Rajapaksa subsequently accepted defeat and left the Temple Trees, the official residence of president, with the control of the government peacefully transferring to Maithripala Sirisena.

50.

The government argued that Mahinda Rajapaksa attempted to seize the poll-counting centres when he realised that he was losing the election.

51.

Former army chief General Sarath Fonseka claimed that the Mahinda Rajapaksa had moved about 2,000 troops into Colombo from the Northern Province three days before the election results were announced.

52.

Mahinda Rajapaksa unsuccessfully sought to become Prime Minister again, after losing his third-term presidential bid, in the 2015 parliamentary elections.

53.

Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to Parliament after his tenure as president, the only former president to do so.

54.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected as Member of Parliament for Kurunegala District.

55.

In 2016, Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalists created the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party in an attempt to split with the SLFP.

56.

Mahinda Rajapaksa adopted a more anti-China policy, opposing major development projects such as the Southern Economic Development Zone, in which China planned to invest over US$5 billion.

57.

Mahinda Rajapaksa changed his stance on private medical universities such as the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine ; during his rule, SAITM was accepted with several concessions from the Board of Investment, and at the request of Mahinda Rajapaksa, SAITM gave scholarships to students who gained 3As in advanced-level exams.

58.

In reply, Dr Neville Fernando, the chairman of SAITM, called him an opportunist, as the students to whom Mahinda Rajapaksa had granted scholarships, were then in their final year.

59.

On 11 November 2018, Mahinda Rajapaksa left the SLFP and joined the SLPP.

60.

On 18 December 2018, the Speaker of Parliament, Karu Jayasuriya, announced that Mahinda Rajapaksa had been appointed as Leader of the Opposition, with the UPFA joining the opposition benches in Parliament.

61.

Mahinda Rajapaksa replaced R Sampanthan, who was the leader of the Tamil National Alliance.

62.

The Mahinda Rajapaksa family regained power in the 2019 presidential election that November, when his younger brother and former wartime defence chief Gotabaya Mahinda Rajapaksa won the election and was sworn in as the new President of Sri Lanka.

63.

Five members of the Mahinda Rajapaksa family won seats in the parliament.

64.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was called Myna by the protesters who established MynaGoGama protest site outside his official residence at temple trees.

65.

The opposition and protestors called for the arrest of Mahinda Rajapaksa for inciting violence against peaceful protesters.

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66.

However, Mahinda Rajapaksa has accused the PRECIFAC of being unconstitutional, and Mahinda Rajapaksa's lawyers objected to its composition.

67.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had said that he did not recall receiving a phone call, and claimed the case was political revenge.

68.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has been accused of nepotism, appointing three brothers to run important ministries and giving other political positions to relatives, regardless of their merit.

69.

Appointments have included his brother, Gotabhaya Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was given the post of Defence Secretary without holding any elections for the post; he controlled the armed forces, the police, and the Coast Guard, and was in charge of immigration and emigration.

70.

Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed another brother, Basil Mahinda Rajapaksa, as minister of Economic Development.

71.

Mahinda Rajapaksa has a long history of denying allegations that are levelled against his family members and political associations.

72.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is widely accused of using his family members for government duties, claims he has rejected.

73.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa imposed an unofficial ban on the Tamil version of the Sri Lankan anthem, which has existed since 1948 and has been sung at various events including the 1949 Independence Day.

74.

Mahinda Rajapaksa continued to stand against the Tamil version of the anthem and slammed his successors for removing the ban and singing it again on Independence Day, claiming that the "national anthem should be sung in one language and not two or three languages"; the Pro-Rajapaksa Joint Opposition boycotted the event.

75.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was sanctioned by the Canadian government for the gross and systematic violations of human rights committed during the civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka and the militant organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from 1983 to 2009.

76.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was born Percy Mahendra Mahinda Rajapaksa, in Weeraketiya, in the rural southern district of Hambantota to an established political family.

77.

Mahinda Rajapaksa had started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan, which was cultivated by the people of his area; he championed their cause throughout his life.

78.

In later years Mahinda Rajapaksa would follow his uncle's example and wear a similar characteristic shawl.

79.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was the second eldest of nine chidden in the family which included six boys and three girls.

80.

Several members of Mahinda Rajapaksa's family are currently active in politics.

81.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as minister of finance of Sri Lanka from 2021 to 2022 until his resignation amidst the 2022 Sri Lankan anti-government protests Mahinda Rajapaksa's eldest brother, Chamal Rajapaksa, has been an MP since 1989.

82.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected Speaker of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka.

83.

In 1983, Mahinda Rajapaksa married Shiranthi Wickremesinghe, a child psychologist and educator.

84.

Yoshitha Mahinda Rajapaksa was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Navy in March 2009.

85.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is superstitious; he wears talismans and consults astrologers in his decision-making.

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86.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is known for acquiring a large number of valuable rings as lucky charms, some with colored stones and elephant hair.

87.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was considered to be the most popular Sri Lankan politician of his time.

88.

However, Mahinda Rajapaksa is accused of creating a cult of personality around himself, using the civil war victory and Sinhala chauvinism.

89.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was referred as a "King" by some of his supporters, and he used the media to portray himself as a strong man.

90.

Mahinda Rajapaksa printed his picture on currency and named the budget airline Mihin Lanka after himself.

91.

Mahinda Rajapaksa thought having his name in the sky would bring him good fortune.