Another, younger Rajapaksa is running for president

Namal, 38, is the eldest son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and nephew of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, also a former president, who was ousted by street protests in 2022. Many in the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna continue to support the current head of government, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – Sri Lanka's largest party has nominated a young member of the Rajapaksa clan as its candidate to challenge the incumbent president in elections to be held on 21 September.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has picked Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, at a Buddhist ceremony held yesterday at the party's headquarters in the capital, Colombo.

In addition to his father Mahinda Rajapaksa, the event was attended by his uncle Basil Rajapaksa, founder of the SLPP, and several other party members.

Over the past few weeks, scores of SLPP lawmakers offered their support to the current president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been credited with reviving the country's economy after taking over from Gotabaya Rajapaksa, another of Namal's uncles.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 but was ousted three years later due to widespread popular protests, led by the "Aragalaya" movement, which forced him to resign and leave the country.

In July 2022, as the largest party in parliament, the SLPP backed Wickremesinghe as the new president, as did the Rajapaksa brothers, Mahinda, Basil, and Gotabaya, but now, they hope to regain power through a new family surrogate.

“My candidature was a last-minute decision but we are ready to work hard to activate grassroot level support," said Namal  Rajapaksa, adding that he would meet with the 92 MPs who declared their support for Wickremesinghe, splitting the SLPP when elections were called last month.

With the younger Rajapaksa entering the presidential race, there are now four official candidates representing various parties. One candidate, SLPP MP Dhammika Perera, pulled out for personal reasons.

This leaves President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, head of the People's Liberation Front, a Marxist-Leninist party, and a few independent candidates.

At 38, Namal Rajapaksa is the youngest contender running and, if he wins, he would become the youngest president in Sri Lanka's history.

To deal with the economic crisis, the Sri Lankan government agreed to a US$ 10 billion debt restructuring plan, securing a US$ 2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Namal Rajapaksa said he will strive to create jobs and help small businesses.

“We are studying the IMF programme to see how we can work around some of its requirements, such as government revenue increases ... without increasing the burden on the public,” he said.

• sri lanka
• elections
• namal rajapaksa
• ranil wickremesinghe
• sajith premadasa
• anura kumara dissanayake