When talking about Sri Lankan politics, there are a few individuals who became famous owing to politics itself. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is indeed one such personality that the world knows!
Born into one of the most popular and powerful political families in Sri Lanka, he became an influential figure in the country. In fact, he served as the eighth president of Sri Lanka. Besides, he is a former Sri Lankan military officer and a politician. He has also served as the secretary to the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development. Accordingly, he became the first Sri Lankan president with a military background. He is also the only president of Sri Lanka who has never held an elected office prior to his presidency.
While he emerged as a popular and most sought-after candidate in the 2019 presidential election, his ruling period met with much criticism from the general public to the point where he had to step down from his position. Keep reading to know more about life and interesting facts about Sri Lanka’s former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa!
Early Life of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Gotabaya Rajapaksha’s full name is Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa and he was born on the 20th of June 1949 in a small village in Palatuwa in Matara district. He was brought up in Weeraketiya which is a rural village in Hambantota. Gotabaya was the fifth of nine siblings. However, he belonged to one of the most prominent political families in the southern province and in the whole of Sri Lanka as well.
He is a past student of the Ananda College, Colombo where he obtained his primary and secondary education. He joined Sri Lanka Army in 1971 and received his basic military training in the Diyatalawa army camp. Initially, he was a signals officer and then he got transferred to several infantry regiments afterward.
His Family
Gotabaya’s father is D.A. Rajapaksa who was a renowned politician, independence agitator, member of the parliament, deputy speaker, and also a cabinet minister of agriculture and land. Almost all of his brothers entered politics and still remain as strong figures in the field of Sri Lankan politics.
His elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa entered politics through the elections for the Sri Lanka parliament representing the Sri Lanka Freedom party at the age of 24. He became the prime minister in 2004 and then the president in 2005. Mahinda Rajapaksa ruled Sri Lanka for two terms.
His two other older brothers, Chamal Rajapaksa, and Basil Rajapaksa are also two prominent politicians in the country. Gotabaya Rajapaksa married Ayoma Rajapaksa and they have one son together. His name is Manoj Rajapaksa and he works as a NASA engineer in the United States of America.
Careers of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
He has engaged in several careers during his young age. The following sections will brief you about them!
Gotabaya Rajapaksa as a Military Officer
Gotabaya Rajapaksa joined the Sri Lanka army as a cadet officer and he received his basic officer training from the Diyatalawa army training center. He has a service of two decades in the Sri Lanka army. During his twenty years long service, he rose up to the rank of the commander of the 1st Gajaba regiment. He has also served in the Sri Lanka Sinha regiment and the Rajarata rifles. Rajapaksa participated in the frontline of operation liberation in the battlefronts of Jaffna. He has also participated in the operations of ‘strike hard’ and ‘Thrivida balaya’.
As a military officer, he was able to receive awards for gallantry from three presidents in Sri Lanka, J.R. Jayawardene, R. Premadasa, and D.B. Wijetunge. After his retirement, Rajapaksa also served as the commandant of the Kotelawala Defence Academy. Afterward, he migrated to America for some time before he entered politics.
Gotabaya as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development
When Mahinda Rajapaksa faced the presidential election in 2005, Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka to support his brother. The newly elected president Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed his brother Gotabaya as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Defence. Under his term, the military operation which defeated the LTTE in 2009 took place.
This earned him the reputation of being the mastermind behind ending the civil war which prevailed in Sri Lanka for nearly three decades. Many say that he used the Karuna faction effectively to defeat the LTTE. Gotabaya Rajapaksa faced an assassination attempt on the 1st of December 2006. While Gotabaya could escape unhurt, two of the commandos passed away on the spot. However, the United Nations and the western governments were highly critical of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s command in the civil war. In relation to that, he accused the UN back for making false allegations against him.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been accused of several allegations of human rights during his term as the defense secretary. One such major scandal is being responsible for the murder of the renowned journalist, Lasantha Wickrematunge. In fact, Lasantha Wickrematunge’s daughter publicly criticizes Gotabaya, mentioning that he has direct involvement in her father’s murder.
Apart from that, he was also accused of ordering General Sarath Fonseka to assassinate any LTTE leaders who might try to surrender during the last days of the civil war. As such, there are several complaints against Gotabaya Rajapaksa for violating human rights policies during the civil war period. Furthermore, Gotabaya is allegedly popular for having a bad relationship with the media. He was accused several times of threatening journalists and manipulating the media. He has to face many court cases due to these allegations.
2019 Presidential Campaign
There were many speculations that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was planning to compete in the 2019 presidential elections. He rejected the claims at first and the opposing political parties were highly critical of these claims as he was a dual citizen of both Sri Lanka and the United States. On the 11th of August 2019, the chairperson of the Sri Lanka Freedom party (Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna – SLPP), the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa would be the candidate for the 2019 presidential campaign.
The pro-nationalistic movements highly supported Gotabaya Rajapaksa. During the campaign, even Mahinda Rajapaksa was accused of appointing his brother as the candidate which seemed like a move to keep the power within his family. However, Gotabaya’s main opponent was Sajith Premadasa who was the candidate of the New Democratic Front. Yet, Gotabaya was able to get the majority of the votes with significant support from predominant Sinhalese areas.
Presidency of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Gotabaya assumed duties as the president of Sri Lanka on the 18th of November 2019 at the Ruwanwelisaya in Anuradhapura. He made history as the first-ever non-career politician and military officer to hold the office of the presidency in Sri Lanka.
Gotabaya appointed P.B. Jayasundara as the secretary of the president and Major General Kamal Gunaratne as the secretary of Defence. On the 20th of November 2019, Ranil Wickramasinghe agreed to resign from his caretaker government. Following his resignation, Gotabaya appointed his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister of Sri Lanka. This also made history as the second nation in the world after Poland to be ruled by two brothers with the offices of president and prime minister. However, there were high criticisms as the power was accumulating around one family which made Gotabaya remove three of his family members from other positions.
Sri Lanka had negative impacts as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Due to the major success in curbing the Covid-19 pandemic, the SLPP could secure a predominant victory in the 2020 General elections.
However, the Gotabaya-led government made some controversial moves. Many believe that they caused the economic and food crisis in Sri Lanka. One such policy is declaring the whole country to immediately move to organic farming. This indeed turned out to be an agricultural catastrophe. Because of the massive drop in production, the government had to soon reverse the policy.
Besides, there was a loss of revenue from tax cuts, rampant money printing, and unsustainable borrowings which led the country to a severe economic crisis. By the end of 2021, people criticized the Rajapaksa administration. Many publicly complained that this regime is pushing Sri Lanka to a state of sovereign default along with a huge debt crisis.
The Downfall of the Government
The central bank floated the Sri Lankan rupee in the early March of 2022 which followed a major shortage of fuel, food, and medicine. In addition, the Ceylon Electricity Board was imposing lengthy power cuts of 10-12 hours. This caused huge chaos among the general public of the country. The situation in the country triggered huge public protests which took a wild turn on the 31st of March as the protestors charged at Rajapaksa’s private residence at Mirihana.
There was a series of mass protests from March 2022 until July 2022. The main slogans of the protestors were ‘Go home Gota’ and ‘Go home Rajapaksas’. The protestors were apolitical and they publicly showed their dislike towards the Rajapaksa administration. Gotabaya was unwilling to listen to the demands of the protestors and took authoritarian methods to dissolve the protests such as imposing curfews and restricting social media.
The government was accused of violating the Sri Lankan constitution and the policies of human rights by suppressing the protests. Starting from the 9th of April, protestors planned to have large demonstrations, occupying the Galle Face Green area. They named it the ‘GotaGoGama’ and continued to do peaceful protests daily until the government resigned. Along with the protests in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankans from around the world also organised international protests which brought much attention to the struggle in Sri Lanka.
On the 9th of July 2022, the protesters broke through the barricades and occupied the official residence in Colombo. On the same day, the speaker of the parliament stated that the president will be officially resigning on the 13th of July. There are news reports that reveal Gotabaya and his wife were at a navy barricade since the airport declined their visa requests to the USA.
Gotabaya’s Exile and Return to Sri Lanka
On the 13th of July, Gotabaya flew to Maldives by a military aircraft and he later moved to Singapore. He didn’t officially resign from his office yet but appointed Ranil Wickremasinghe as the acting president of the country. Amidst the criticism, the government of Singapore issued a statement mentioning that Gotabaya is on a private visit to their country.
On the 14th of July 2022, Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent an email to the speaker of the parliament with his official resignation letter. This made him the first Sri Lankan president to resign in the middle of his term. His resignation was presented to the parliament on the 16th of July. The letter said that Gotabaya took all possible measures to revert the crisis during his term. After being in a self-imposed exile from Sri Lanka for 52 days, Gotabaya returned to Sri Lanka on the 2nd of September.
