Sri Lanka’s main opposition party, the Sri Lanka People’s Front, has named former Defense Chief Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its presidential candidate.
Gotabaya assured Sri Lankans that, if elected, he would prioritise Sri Lanka’s national security and economy, which suffered a blow after the terrorist attacks in April.
“My top priority will be ensuring security in the country without allowing extremist terrorists to raise their heads,” he said at the rally, which aired on private television channels in the South Asian country.
Who Else is Running?
Other parties have not formally announced their presidential candidates but speculations are that Gotabaya’s main opponent will be Sajith Premadasa, Housing Minister and a United National Party politician.
Gotabaya’s candidacy could muddle up that of President Maithripala Sirisena who is seeking a second term. Seeing as the Sri Lanka People’s Front emerged from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which President Sirisena leads, this could be a problem. Additionally, many Freedom Party members have sided with the Rajapaksa brothers.
A Brief History of Gotabaya
70-year old Rajapaksa, a brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was a powerful defence bureaucrat under his brother’s government. Here, he played a key role in ending the Tamil Tigers’ agitation for an independent state in 2009 but, he was accused of cracking down on those who criticised his methods.
Gotabaya, who is a US citizen, said he has started the process to renounce his United States citizenship. However, he has two court cases in Los Angeles filed by torture victims and a daughter of a top journalist killed in 2009. He has since denied the allegations, describing them as politically motivated.
What People Are Saying?
Charu Lata Hogg, a researcher at Chatham House in London who has briefed the United Nations on the Sri Lanka situation, said Rajapaksa’s return would be a step backwards for justice and accountability.
“The real significance is that someone who led an army that has been accused of perpetrating war crimes will not be held to account and will be in a position of political strength.”
Darsha Jegatheeswaran, a senior researcher at the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research in Jaffna thinks Gotabaya will be quite “heavy-handed.”
The Sri Lankan Presidential Election is scheduled to hold between November 8 and December 8 and the incumbent President Sirisena’s first term will end on January 8. Will Gotabaya’s past matter to the people of Sri Lanka?
