Voice
to the people
He continued a tradition of pro-people politics initiated
by his paternal uncle, DM Rajapaksa, known in his time
as the Lion of Ruhuna (the traditional name for the
southern region of Sri Lanka), who was elected to the
State Council from Hambantota in the 1930s as a leader
of the emerging movement against British colonial rule,
giving voice to the largely impoverished rural peasants
of the South. He wore an earthy brown shawl, the colour
of kurakkan (a type of maize) cultivated by the rural
masses, whose cause he championed throughout his life,
till his sudden death in 1945.
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Rural leadership
The mantle of the southern rural leadership and earthy
brown shawl of protest and hope came to his brother
DA Rajapaksa, himself a politician well-known for his
integrity, courage and perseverance in the face of many
odds, especially for those who worked for the cause
of the rural poor. In the by-election in 1945 he succeeded
his brother in the Second State Council and was included
in the Council’s Committee on Agriculture and
Land, prior to independence from the British in 1947.
With his interest in the needs of the landless peasants
and the development of agriculture, DA Rajapaksa pushed
through a 99-year lease scheme to transfer crown land
to landless peasants in five acre plots. For the middle
income earners, land extending from 10 to 50 acres was
alienated in the same manner; measures that gave a boost
to rice and coconut cultivations in the south of Sri
Lanka.
Elected to Parliament from the Beliatta electorate of
the Hambantota District in the first Parliament of 1947,
he was a member of the governing party, the United National
Party (UNP), till in 1951 he crossed over to the Opposition
on matters of policy, together with the late SWRD Bandaranaike,
which led to forming of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(SLFP) that gave weight to Social Democratic policies.
He was re-elected to Parliament from the SLFP in 1952
and 1956 after which election Mr. Bandaranaike was elected
Prime Minister of an SLFP-led Government. Mr. Rajapaksa
was appointed the Minister of Agriculture and Lands
in 1959. He was defeated in the parliamentary election
held in March 1960 following the assassination of Prime
Minister Bandaranaike in September 1959. In the next
general election held soon after in July 1960 he was
re-elected from Beliatta from the SLFP then led by Mr.
Bandaranaike’s wife Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
He was appointed Deputy Chairman of Committees in Parliament
and subsequently Deputy Speaker. When the SLFP lost
to the UNP in 1965, political fortune changed again
and he was defeated.
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Mahinda
- The early years
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the second son in a family of six
brothers and three sisters, was born in Weeraketiya
in Sri Lanka’s Deep South, on November 18, 1945,
and was brought up from his early years in keeping with
Sinhala-Buddhist tradition. Family tradition was also
seen with his first schooling at Richmond College, in
the southern city of Galle, where his father and uncle,
and cousins who also entered politics, were first schooled.
His education was later shifted to Nalanda College and
Thurstan College in Colombo. He later studied law at
the Colombo Law College, and qualified as an Attorney-at-Law.
He took oaths as an Attorney-at-Law in November 1977,
and has evinced a keen interest in human rights aspects
of law. Throughout his student days he continued his
links with the peasants of the south, and was no stranger
to the paddy fields and the agricultural livelihoods
of the people. With Sri Lanka having a strong leftwing
movement at the time of his student days in Colombo,
Mahinda also participated in many of the leftwing and
radical protest and agitation movements.
He was 24 years, when first elected to Parliament as
an SLFP member, from the Beliatta electorate in 1970.
He was then the youngest Member of Parliament and represented
the same electorate his father did from his first election
1947 and several subsequent polls till his death in
1965. He practiced law mainly in the southern town of
Tangalle from 1977 to 1994 which kept him closely in
touch with the people and their needs, and also the
development needs of the southern region, until his
appointment as a Minister in 1994. He lost his parliamentary
seat in the landslide victory of the UNP in 1977. In
the parliamentary election that followed in 1989 (after
the UNP had extended its term by six years through a
questionable referendum) he was re-elected to Parliament
from the Hambantota District under proportional representation,
and held this position until he bade farewell to Parliament
as Executive President in November 2005.
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Loyalty
and politics
Loyalty to principle and party has been the hallmark
of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s political philosophy. In
this he followed the example set by his father, especially
in the loyalty he showed to the SLFP which he helped
found and to the late SWRD Bandaranaike and Mrs. Sirimavo
Bandaranaike whose leadership and politics he accepted.
Mahinda Rajapaksa too was deeply loyal to Mrs. Bandaranaike
and the SLFP. His loyalty and attachment to the SLFP,
which was responsible for the ups and downs in his politics,
just like his father’s, has remained from the
time he was a youth activist of the party as a student,
and throughout his political life as Member of Parliament,
Cabinet Minister, Prime Minister and now as the country’s
President.
It is this loyalty that saw him chosen as Prime Minister
after the General Election of April 2004, when the United
People’s Freedom Alliance, a coalition led by
the SLFP, won a majority in Parliament. He had by then
risen to the position of senior Vice President of the
SLFP. Loyalty to party also saw him chosen as the SLFP’s
presidential nominee in November 2005.
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A Man for Rights
From the beginning of his career, Rajapaksa adopted
a centre-left political stance, identifying himself
with labour rights and becoming a champion of human
rights. He was a leading member of the Parliamentarians
for Human Rights, and in the days of grave human rights
violations under the UNP government in 1988/89 took
the lead in agitating in defence of human rights, taking
the issue before the international community.
He came into prominence as a leader, together with
Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu, of the Mothers Front, which
organized the mothers of the “disappeared”
in what was described as the white terror of 1988-90.
The Visva Bharati University of Calcutta in India conferred
on him the title Professor Emeritus for his record on
human rights. He played a major role in mobilizing people’s
action against the then government, especially in defence
of the democratic rights of the people that were being
gravely endangered. Among the campaigns he led was the
hugely successful “Paada Yaathra” –
a pilgrimage of protest on foot from Colombo to the
southern shrine of Kataragama, which saw massive participation
by the people; he also took the lead in organizing several
other public protest campaigns which laid the groundwork
for the defeat of the UNP government in the General
Election in August 1994, and the later election of Mrs.
Chandrika Kumaratunga of the SLFP as the fourth Executive
President in November the same year.
Rajapaksa was Minister for Labour & Vocational
Training and of Fisheries in President Kumaratunga's
Cabinet from 1994 to 2001. He brought his experience
in trade union activities to good use as Minister of
Labour and helped settle many a labour dispute both
in the public and private sectors. His close understanding
of issues involving the working people helped in the
preparation of the Workers’ Charter, presented
to the Government of President Kumaratunga. He brought
a new lease of life to the field of Vocational Training
by establishing the Vocational Training Authority with
over 300 training centres at the village level.
As the Minister of Fisheries he started a University
for Oceanography and established a Coastal Guard Unit.
He also took the initiative in launching housing schemes
for the fishing communities in the country, which has
seen the building of the largest number of housing units
so far for any single economic sector in the country,
other than the traditional housing arrangements in the
plantation sector.
He also held the portfolio of the Ports and Shipping
in addition to Fisheries, for three months, and in this
period initiated work for the construction of a new
harbour at Hambantota, which is one of the most important
measures in economic and infrastructure development
in the country. The work on this was stalled for some
time, and has now been resumed after his election as
Executive President.
From the time he was chosen Prime Minister in April
2004 till his election as President 19 months later
he also held the portfolio of Highways, which saw him
take a keen interest in the development of the country’s
roads. This experience made him introduce the concept
of Maga Neguma, focusing on the development of roads
and highways, in his manifesto for the Presidential
Election. As President he pursues road and highways
development as an important aspect of government policy.
He has been the President of the Sri Lankan Committee
for Solidarity with Palestine for the past 25 years,
until his election as Executive President, and has always
maintained a close interest in finding a peaceful solution
to the Middle East problem within the framework of a
sovereign Palestinian state.
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Rise to Presidency
Mahinda Rajapaksa had no sudden rise to the Presidency
of Sri Lanka. He has come through many decades of work
with and for the people, demonstrating an unfailing
loyalty to his political party and its leadership, and
boldly facing the rough and tumble of politics. After
the ministerial position he held in Government, when
the SLFP again went into Opposition following electoral
defeat in December 2001, in March 2002 he was elected
Leader of the Opposition, bringing to that office his
many years of parliamentary experience, both in Government
and Opposition.
After the General Elections of April 2004 in which
the United People’s Freedom Alliance emerged winner,
he was appointed the country’s 13th Prime Minister
on April 6, 2004, in the Government headed by President
Chandrika Kumaratunga, and was a key political organizer
for the SLFP and its allies at a time of increased political
rivalry.
When the Presidential Election was brought forward
by one year to November 2005 by order of the Supreme
Court, Mahinda Rajapaksa, then a senior Vice President
of the party, was chosen as the presidential candidate
of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for the election held
on 17 November 2005. His candidature was later approved
by 25 political parties and people’s movements.
His election came with support from all sections of
the Sri Lankan polity, and was a more significant achievement
as he had to wade against undercurrents of opposition
from sections of the very political party, the SLFP,
to which he had been loyal from the time he entered
parliamentary politics in 1970. It was an opposition
that came from a fear of the loss of family control
over the leadership of the party.
He was sworn in as the fifth Executive President of
the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on the
19th of November 2005, after being elected President
with a majority that endorsed his manifesto in a closely
contested, peaceful, free and fair election.
In acceptance of his commitment to the SLFP, and his
loyalty to it in times of success and defeat, he was
elected President of the party, of which his father
was a co-founder, on June 29, 2006.
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The Presidency
Mahinda Rajapaksa won the Presidency of Sri Lanka on
a wide-ranging policy, which was largely people-oriented
and was laid out in the “Mahinda Chinthana”
– The Thinking of Mahinda – which promised
the advance of democracy, and a commitment to a negotiated
solution to the long standing ethnic conflict, exacerbated
by separatist terrorism; it offered social democratic
approaches to economic and social issues, the continuance
of social welfare policies such as free education and
free health, and end to privatization of the State sector,
a huge commitment to infrastructure development, strengthening
of the rural sector of the economy, protection of the
environment and the upholding of traditional values
such as the humane treatment of animals.
He went through a most trying period in the first five
months since his election, with the separatist Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launching attacks on the
security forces and civilians from barely two weeks
after his election. From early December 2005 till mid-April
2006, President Rajapaksa showed considerable patience
and forbearance, for which he won international admiration,
in the face of provocative violence by the LTTE that
killed nearly 600. He allowed limited attacks on LTTE
positions only after it carried out a failed suicide-bomb
attack to assassinate the Army Commander in April 2006.
He demonstrated his commitment to peace and negotiation
by re-opening the talks with the LTTE, which it had
unilaterally walked away from in April 2003, but the
LTTE did not reciprocate his moves for peace.
President Rajapaksa did not hesitate to take a determined
stand on behalf of the people, when the LTTE closed
down an important sluice gate at Mavil Aru in the East,
cutting off water for drinking, agriculture and livelihood
for nearly 50,000 people of all communities, leading
to the danger of a major humanitarian crisis, in mid-2006.
He used the security forces to re-open the sluice gate
at Mavil Aru. From then on the security forces have
proceeded to clear the LTTE from other areas of the
East such as Mutur and Sampur, strengthened the protection
to the Trincomalee Harbour, and has finally liberated
the entire Eastern Province from the LTTE. He has now
initiated an accelerated programme of development for
the East, which is expected to lead to considerable
economic activity there, and also restore democratic
elections and institutions in the region.
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All Party
President Rajapaksa remains committed to a negotiated
political solution to the crisis of power sharing in
the country, and in a major policy initiative has appointed
an All Party Representative Committee to work out a
consensus solution on methods of power sharing and necessary
constitutional reform in the country.
He has initiated several major infrastructure development
projects, among which are the construction of the new
harbour and international airport at Hambantota, at
least four new highways linking the major cities of
the country, a coal-fired thermal power station at Norochcholai
in the North Western Province, a multi-fuel thermal
power station at Kerawalapitiya in the Western Gampaha
District and a hydro-power station at Upper Kotmale
in the central hills.
The Government is paying keen attention to strengthening
the rural economy with increased incentives to cultivators
and the search for new markets for their produce. The
development of Small and Medium Enterprises also receives
considerable importance under the economic policies
of the Rajapaksa presidency.
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IT initiatives
New initiatives have been launched to take computer
literacy and Information Technology to the rural sector
and also bring a major enhancement of IT knowledge and
capability in the country, and its use in governance.
The Nenasala, a brand name in Rural IT Centres, was
conceptualized by President Rajapaksa during his tenure
as Prime Minister and to date 400 such centres have
been opened in the rural and semi-urban areas. The expansion
of telecommunication facilities in the country is being
encouraged with the numbers of fixed-line and mobile
phone users showing a rapid rise since December 2005.
In keeping with the Mahinda Chinthana, in the social
sphere, the Rajapaksa administration has introduced
policies to curb addiction to tobacco and alcohol, and
also prevent substance abuse and drug addiction. In
a major initiative in humanitarian policy, President
Rajapaksa has ordered a stop to the killing of dogs
for rabies eradication, carried out under British colonial
law, and initiated the introduction of modern, humane
and scientific methods of rabies control recommended
by the World Health Organization. A new law on the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals has completed the drafting stage.
The Government is also carrying on an important programme
to improve animal husbandry in the country, with the
expectation of achieving self-sufficiency in milk production
in the medium term.
President Rajapaksa follows a pragmatic foreign policy
with a commitment to the principles of Non-Alignment,
and the maintenance of friendly relations with all countries,
strongly supportive of the United Nations and its initiatives
for development and progress, and seeking international
cooperation in the fight against terror both in Sri
Lanka and elsewhere.
The two budgets presented by the President, in his capacity
as Minister of Finance were adopted in Parliament with
overwhelming majorities, with most parties in Opposition
too voting for them. Under his stewardship the economy
of Sri Lanka has shown a growth on over 6% in 2006 and
is expected to show over 7% growth in 2007.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is married to Shiranthi
Rajapaksa, a keen social worker who heads the Seva Vanitha
Movement – a women’s service movement in
the public sector, and takes a keen interest in issues
of the rights of women and children, as well the advance
of the humanitarian policies in the Mahinda Chinthana.
They have three sons. All of them are keen sportsmen
and have represented their school St. Thomas’
College, Mt. Lavinia in Rugby. The eldest Namal, in
addition to studies, is at present engaged in youth
affairs, especially the participation of youth in development
work; the second, Yoshitha has joined the Sri Lanka
Navy and is undergoing training as a cadet officer at
Dartmouth in the UK, and the third Rohitha is pursuing
higher studies in the UK.
President Rajapaksa is himself a very keen sportsman.
He represented his school in Athletics in Track events
specializing in the 4 x 400 metres relay. When not restricted
by the pressures of work and concerns of security he
has always been present at the school rugby matches
when his sons were playing, and was a frequent spectator
at inter-club rugby games in Colombo and Kandy. A keen
fan of both cricket and rugby, he follows the fortunes
of the Sri Lanka cricket team and inter-club rugby with
great interest, and offers much encouragement to Sri
Lankan sportsmen and sportswomen.
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