Mahinda Rajapaksa
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| Mahinda Rajapaksa | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 19, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Chandrika Kumaratunga |
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| Succeeded by | Incumbent |
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| Born | November 18, 1945 Weerakatiya, Hambantota, Sri Lanka |
| Political party | United People's Freedom Alliance, Sri Lanka Freedom Party |
| Spouse | Shiranthi Rajapaksa |
| Religion | Buddhist |
Percy Mahendra 'Mahinda' Rajapaksa (born November 18, 1945) is the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and a Sri Lankan politician. Rajapaksa was also the country's Prime Minister from April 06, 2004 until November 21, 2005. He is married to Shiranthi Rajapaksa, and is the father of three sons.
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[edit] Early life
Rajapaksa was born in Weeraketiya in the southern rural District of Hambantota. He hails from a well known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, Don Alwin Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator and former Member of Parliament. D.M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Councilor for Hambantota in the 1930s who started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan (a type of local maize) cultivated by the people of his area, whose cause he championed throughout his life. It is from his example that Rajapaksa wears his characteristic shawl.
Rajapaksa was educated at Richmond College, Galle before moving to Nalanda College, Colombo and later Thurstan College, Colombo. He was also a part-time film actor and had roles in a few Sinhalese movies.
He worked at the Vidyodaya University (now University of Sri Jayawardanapura) before studying law, which he was still doing in 1970 when he was elected as Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) member for the Parliamentary seat of Beliatta in the Hambantota District, which his father had represented between 1947 and 1965. 24 years of age at the time, he was the youngest member of the House. His candidacy was supported by the United Corporations and Mercantile Union, of which he was Chairman of the Vidyodaya University branch.
In 1974 he received his law degree from the Colombo Law College and took his place at the bar, becoming a human-rights lawyer, and practiced law in his rural district Hambantota. Throughout his parliamentary career, except for the period from 1994-2001 when he was a minister, he continued his law practice in Tangalle.
He lost his parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in 1977. During the 1985 by-election campaign of Mulkirigala electorate in Hambantota district, for which his brother Chamal Rajapaksa contested representing the SLFP, Mahinda was jailed by the then UNP government for unproven allegations of keeping unauthorised fire arms.
[edit] In Opposition
From the start of his career, Rajapaksa adopted a centre-left political stance, identifying himself with labour rights.
In 1980 he became the President of the Sri Lankan Committee for Solidarity with Palestine. He maintains a close interest in finding a peaceful solution to the Middle East problem within the framework of a sovereign Palestinian state.
In 1989 he was re-elected to Parliament to represent Hambantota District under Proportional Representation. He came into prominence as a leader, together with Manorani Saravanamuttu, of the Mothers Front, which organised the mothers of the "disappeared" in the white terror of 1988-90 instigated by a terrorist group that called themselves Deshapremi Jathika Vyaparaya or 'Patriotic National Movement'. The Visva Bharati University of Calcutta in India conferred on him the title Professor Emeritus for his record on human rights.
In the early 1990s he was elected to the Central Committee of the SLFP and was part of a re-organisation drive. He also organized and led the Pada Yatra march from Colombo to Kataragama in protest against the United National Party government, which was primarily responsible for its downfall.
[edit] Appointment as Minister
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, Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Labour. He held this post until 1997 when, following a cabinet reshuffle, his portfolio was changed to Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource.
During his tenure of Minister of Labor, he suffered a major setback when President Kumaragunta did not implement his brainchild, the Worker’s Charter, which he drafted and had presented to parliament. The charter sought to establish trade union rights, a wages Commission, social security, a National Trade Union Training Institute and facilities the adjudication of industrial disputes.
Following are some of the tasks he carried out during his period as Minister.
- Initiated a housing program called "Deewara Gammana" for fishermen and their families.
- Initiated the first ever University for Oceanography known as "Sagara Vishwavidyalaya."
- Introduced a special banking scheme called “Idiwara Banks” for fishermen.
- Established a Coastal Guard Unit, a much needed security system for an Island nation, to stop the illegal fishing activities and protect the coast of Sri Lanka.
- Provided fisheries communication equipment to improve the efficiency through the use of technology.
- In addition to the Portfolio of Fisheries, he also held the Portfolio of the Ports and Shipping for a short period of three months. Within this period, he took the initial steps to construct Hambantota Harbour.
[edit] Leader of the Opposition
When the UNP defeated the People's Alliance in the 2001 elections, Rajapaksa lost his position in the Government. He was however appointed Leader of the Opposition in March 2002.
[edit] Prime Minister and President
After the Parliamentary Elections of 2004, in which the United People's Freedom Alliance was victorious, the was a tussle between Rajapakse, former Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar and President Chandrika Kumaratunga's brother and former Opposition Leader Anura Bandaranayake for the post of Prime Minister. Kumaratunga was widely expected to appoint Kadirgamar, one of her close advisors, however, due to pressure from grass-root level party supporters, Kumaratunga had to select more popular Mahinda Rajapaksa instead. Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s 13th Prime Minister on April 06, 2004.
While Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister, he also held the Ministry of Highways.
- Initiated "Maga Neguma" project to build rural and city roads and highways, and allocated funds to each and every local government area.
- Proposed and planned to construct fly-overs to minimize traffic congestion in the Colombo city.
As Prime Minister, Rajapaksa was also put in charge of Information and Communication Technology Agency. Following are his accomplishments in that position.
- Re-energized the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka.
- Taking the Information Technology (IT) and computer literacy to rural areas under the “Nanasala” project. The Nanasala project is an initiative to introduce several models of the telecentres or knowledge centres to be established in all parts of Sri Lanka to spread ICT services to the rural and semi-urban populations.
[edit] Presidency (November 2005-present)
After another tussle, Rajapaksa was chosen in front of Anura Bandaranaike, brother of Chandrika Kumaratunga, as the presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for the Presidential Election held on November 17, 2005. Rajapaksa was up against Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the United National Party in this election. Rajapaksa defeated Wickremasinghe by 190,000 votes and took office as President on November 19, 2005. His narrow victory was largely due to the mass support from the southern Sinhala-Buddhist voters. Also, in the north-east, the LTTE called for a boycott of the polls from Tamil voters in areas under their control, and forcibly prevented a large section of voters from visiting the polling booths. Rajapaksa received 50.3% of the vote.
After becoming President of Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa reshuffled the cabinet and took the portfolios of Defence, Finance, and Planning in the new cabinet, which was sworn on November 23, 2005.
[edit] Political Position
Unlike some members of the new government coalition, Rajapaksa is believed to support peace talks with the Tamil Tigers as a means of ending the civil war with the Tamil secessionist movement. But his recent alignment with political parties such as the JVP and JHU have raised large concerns within his own party. SLFP leader and then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga openly accused Rajapaksa of pushing the country towards war because of his pact with nationalist forces.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Sri Lankan President's Official Website
- Mahinda Rajapaksa's Web Site
- "Mahinda 4 Sri Lanka" A website with Mahinda Rajapaksa Biography, Photos, News and Critics
- BBC report on the election victory
| Presidents of Sri Lanka |  |
|---|---|
| William Gopallawa • Junius Richard Jayewardene • Ranasinghe Premadasa • Dingiri Banda Wijetunga • Chandrika Kumaratunga • Mahinda Rajapaksa |
