Sri Lanka’s ruling party helmed by the Rajapaksa clan, who were booted out of office by mass protests in 2022, on Wednesday (August 7, 2024) named Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, as its candidate for the September presidential polls.
The move follows a split in the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Front) after many of its legislators recently pledged support to incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also running for President.
The party has held a parliamentary majority since the August 2020 general elections, when the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa-led government secured two-thirds of the seats. After Mr. Gotabaya was forced to resign at the height of Sri Lanka’s crushing unprecedented economic crisis in 2022, its MPs have backed Mr. Wickremesinghe who took his place through a parliamentary vote.
The SLPP’s choice came as a surprise to some since it was widely speculated that the party would field a casino mogul.
Mr. Namal has been heir apparent in the Rajapaksa camp for some years now, awaiting an opportune time to launch his presidential campaign. However, the party knows its chances are slim in the coming election, after being discredited two years ago. The people’s uprising held the former first family responsible for the country’s financial crash and demanded that the Rajapaksas step down.
Mr. Namal, Hambantota legislator and a former Sports Minister, described his candidacy as a “last minute” decision. “The party needs me at this time, and leadership is about being there at challenging times,” the 38-year-old parliamentarian told The Hindu . Asked if the move was aimed at consolidating support within the party after it split recently, he said political actors jumping ships was not uncommon. “We faced it even when President [Maithripala] Sirisena left us ahead of the 2015 polls.”
‘A good move’
According to Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema, senior political commentator and Editor-in-Chief of weekend newspaper The Sunday Morning , fielding Mr. Namal is a “good move” for the SLPP. “It could not have been an easy choice. But it may arrest any further erosion of their party and send out a strong message to members that it is looking to rebuild itself,” she told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, Mr. Wickremesinghe is seeking a mandate to continue his government’s economic recovery programme, although critics point to a majority of Sri Lankans reeling under the impact of painful austerity measures. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Leader of the opposition National People’s Power (NPP) alliance Anura Kumara Dissanayake are two other prominent contenders vying for the top office.
