On August 9, 2020, former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, 74, was sworn in as the country’s prime minister for the fourth time after his party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. He was first elected prime minister in 2004 and again appointed for brief periods in 2018 and 2019. Mahinda Rajapaksa also served as Sri Lanka’s president from 2005 to 2015. Rajapaksa polled a record-breaking share of preferential votes— over 500,000—the highest ever recorded by a candidate in the history of elections. The Sri Lanka Podujana Permuna (SLPP—People’s Front), the party led by the Rajapaksa brothers, won 145 seats in the 225-member parliament in the August 5, 2020 general election, bringing the Rajapaksa brothers very close to the two-thirds majority required to make constitutional changes that could further strengthen their hold over the country.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at Rajamaha Viharaya in Kelaniya, a revered Buddhist temple near Colombo. Rajapaksa’s younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa administered the him oath to the office of the PM. The inaugural session of the new Parliament is scheduled for August 20.
Rajapaksa is extremely popular among the ethnic majority Sinhalese due to his role in ending the country’s 25-year civil war with Tamil rebels in 2009.
Up to 50% Off
SLPP’s main opponent, the SJB (Samagi Jana Balawegaya), obtained 54 seats. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a party representing ethnic minority Tamils, won 10 seats; 16 others were split among 12 small parties.
The biggest casualty of the election was the crushing defeat of the United National Party (UNP) of former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, which could win just one seat. Wikremesinghe was unseated for the first time since he entered Parliament in 1977.
This victory has, however, raised fears of weakening government institutions such as independent commissions. Activists fear such a move could lead to authoritarianism and dynastic rule in the country as five members of the Rajapaksa family have been elected as MPs—Rajapaksa, his son Namal, the eldest brother Chamal and his son Sashindra, and a nephew, Nipuna Ranawaka, will be in Parliament.
Historic Peace Deal between Israel and UAE