Colombo, Aug 7 (IANS) Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, entered Sri Lanka’s Presidential election race on Wednesday.
The name of 38-year-old lawmaker, who has been in the Parliament since 2010, was finalised after weeks of deliberation on the possible Presidential candidate from Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the party formed by the family.
Namal, appointed as party’s National Organiser in March, enters the race as SLPP is going through a major crisis, with nearly 80 per cent of its MPs, including those holding ministerial posts in the current government, pledging their support to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s candidacy.
Mahinda Rajapaksa became the country’s President in 2005 and ruled the country till 2015. In 2019, he became the Prime Minister as his younger brother Gotabaya was elected as the island nation’s President.
Gotabaya, held responsible for the economic crisis, was forced to flee the country in 2022. Amidst widespread public agitation over the unprecedented economic crisis and the burning down of their houses, others in the Rajapaksas family also went into hiding.
Gotabaya invited Wickremesinghe to take over the country with the support of nearly 60 per cent SLPP majority in the parliament as Rajapaksas once again joined the ruling government.
Having gradually controlled the economic crisis, Wickremesinghe asked SLPP to support him in the Presidential Election but the Rajapaksas accused the President of dividing their party and denied any support.
— IANS
sfl/as
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
