Sri Lanka’s Leftist nationalist party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has filed corruption complaints against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. The party has asked the country’s anti-graft body to prevent them from leaving the country, media reports said on Wednesday.
The JVP, or People’s Liberation Front, has lodged complaints against Mr. Rajapaksa, his son Namal, and two brothers — Basil and Gotabhaya — who were a Minister and Defence Secretary respectively in his government.
In another blow to the former first family, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) lost one of its provinces to the United National Party (UNP) after the majority shifted in favour of the latter following the defeat of President Rajapaksa in the January 8 presidential polls.
Chief Minister Sashindra Rajapaksa, a nephew of Mr. Rajapaksa, stepped down after young UNP politician Harin Fernando garnered the support of 18 out of the 34 members of the Council to become Chief Minister. The province has a sizable number of Tamils of recent Indian origin, working in the country’s plantation sector.
