Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday as Sri Lanka continues to be in grips of violent clashes amid the worst-ever economic crisis the country has faced in its history since its independence
Sri Lanka prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. ANI File
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned on Monday as Sri Lanka continues to be in grips of violent clashes amid the worst-ever economic crisis the country has faced in its history since its independence.
The government imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed army troops in the capital after more than 20 people were injured in the violent clashes.
The Rajapaksa brothers – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – had so far ignored defied calls for their resignation even as protests against the government intensified.
Let’s take a look at the 76-year-old patriarch’s reversal of fortune over the years:
The rise and fall of Mahinda Rajapaksa
A lawyer by profession and a politician by choice, Mahinda was first elected to Parliament when he was just 24, becoming the country’s youngest lawmaker in 1970.
After losing the seat in 1977, he focused on his law career until reentering Parliament in 1989.
He served as labour minister (1994-2001) and minister of fisheries and aquatic resources (1997-2001) under President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Mahinda became the prime minister for the first time after the United People’s Freedom Alliance won a majority in the general election of April 2004.
Soon enough, he was chosen as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party’s presidential nominee in November 2005 against former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
After gaining a narrow victory in the election, Mahinda announced his intention to crush the LTTE, which had established a de facto government in northern Sri Lanka. His opponents also claimed that Mahinda was able to win because LTTE had called for Tamil voters to boycott the polls.
The LTTE’s defeat after a nearly 30-year-long bloody civil war turned Mahinda into a hero. Riding the same popularity he was able to return to power with a thumping win in 2010, leading to political analysts labelling him “a man with a midas touch.”
During his presidency from 2005 to 2015, Mahinda consolidated his position.
The Constitution was changed to allow him to serve a third term, and his three brothers – Gotabaya, Basil and Chamal – were awarded influential positions, leading to accusations that he was running the country like a family firm.
However, during 2014 his popularity started to wane generally because of rising prices and concerns of corruption and abuse of power.
In an attempt to secure another presidential term before losing support, he again called for an early presidential poll. But his political gamble backfired and he was defeated in the elections in 2015.
Maithripala Sirisena, formerly a member of Rajapaksa’s cabinet, defeated him and was sworn in as president.
During his tenure as president, Mahinda concluded several key infrastructure deals with China, raising concerns in India and the West.
Critics say it was due to Mahinda that the country has fallen into the “Chinese debt trap”.
The strategic Hambantota port, which was funded by a Chinese loan during his regime, was leased to Beijing on a 99-year debt-for-equity swap in 2017 after the country failed to pay off the debt.
In 2015, Parliament restored a constitutional two-term limit on the presidency barring Mahinda from contesting again. In August, Mahinda was elected to Parliament.
After their defeat in 2015, the Rajapaksas were battling arrests and corruption cases in court. There were scores of cases filed against them for alleged misappropriation and the cases are still pending.
Three years later, Mahinda was briefly appointed as the prime minister in October, 2018 by then-President Sirisena, who sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a controversial move that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.
Mahinda resigned on December 15 after the Supreme Court declared that the dissolution of Parliament by Sirisena was “illegal”.
Later, Mahinda and his supporters in Parliament defected from the ruling party and joined the SLPP, founded by his brother Basil, and he formally became the Leader of the Opposition.
The deadly Easter bombings on April 21, 2019 was a turning point in Sri Lankan politics. The SLPP led by the Rajapaksas lambasted the government of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe for the failure on the security front.
The SLPP also announced the presidential candidacy of Mahinda’s younger brother Gotabaya, who had served as his defence minister in the final years of the civil war against the LTTE.
The brother-duo promised security to Sri Lankans who became worried about Islamic extremism in the Buddhist-majority country. Gotabhaya won the presidential election in 2019.
After becoming President, Gotabaya appointed Mahinda as the prime minister.
Initially, Mahinda maintained an image of security and stability as the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally in 2020. However, despite reporting much lower rates of infection and death from COVID-19 than other South Asian countries, tourism dependent Sri Lankan economy suffered a major setback, ultimately resulting in an unprecedented economic crisis that paved his ouster.
With inputs from agencies
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