Sri Lanka clan returns as Rajapaksa scion runs for president

COLOMBO – A scion of the powerful Rajapaksa clan is running for the Sri Lankan presidency in elections in September, more than two years after his populist uncle led the country to its worst economic crisis ever.

The clan’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party named Mr Namal Rajapaksa, 38, as their presidential candidate at a ceremony attended by his family members in Colombo. The party, which leads the government coalition, had supported the incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe in the current term. 

“Victory for Namal is guaranteed because he possesses local values, understands the aspirations of the people, and can face up to challenges,” said party general secretary Sagara Kariyawasam after announcing the candidacy.

The national vote on Sept 21 will be the first for the country after a historic debt default in May 2022 that saw living standards plummet and widespread unrest, forcing Mr Namal’s uncle Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign. Mr Namal’s participation in the presidential election signals the Rajapaksa clan is trying to reconsolidate power among the country’s Buddhist majority. 

The former sports minister will run against Mr Wickremesinghe, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Mr Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is backed by the socialist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party. Nearly 20 candidates have so far placed deposits at Sri Lanka’s Election Commission to contest the polls, for which the nominations are due on Aug 15.

Mr Namal’s father Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose decade in power saw the end of Sri Lanka’s ethnic war, and uncle Basil Rajapaksa, a former finance minister, attended Aug 7’s event at the party headquarters. Supporters held prayers and cheered the announcement. Mr Gotabaya Rajapaksa, however, was not present at the celebrations, suggesting some friction within the clan. 

In an interview with Bloomberg News in 2022, Mr Namal said that while his uncle’s government had inherited a bad economy from the previous administration, it also made some key policy errors and failed to pivot quickly when the pandemic hit. 

Mr Wickremesinghe, 75, who took the presidency through a Parliament vote, is standing as an independent candidate. He has won endorsement from some members of the SLPP, who have been part of his Cabinet that oversaw a recovery of the economy and backed a US$3 billion (S$3.98 billion) International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package. 

Mr Wickremesinghe is campaigning on a platform of continuing reforms in order to tap more funds and sustain growth, while Mr Premadasa has said revisions need to be made in tax measures and debt restructuring that is part of the IMF programme.

Mr Dissanayake has won support amid a campaign for equitability of growth and elimination of corruption. Bloomberg