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Rajapaksa family
The Rajapaksa family (Sinhala: රාජපක්ෂ, romanized: Rājapakṣa) is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. They have been particularly prominent in Sri Lankan national politics since 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president.
As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown, several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens, which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy.
The Rajapaksas are a rural land-owning family from the village Giruwapattuwa in the southern district of Hambantota. The family owned paddy fields and coconut plantations. One of its members, Don David Rajapaksa, held the feudal post of Vidanarachchi in Ihala Valikada Korale. The family entered the political scene when Don David Rajapaksa's son Don Mathew Rajapaksa was elected in 1936 to represent Hambantota district in the State Council. Don Mathew died in 1945 and at the resulting by-election his brother Don Alwin Rajapaksa was elected without a contest. At the 1947 parliamentary election, two members of the family were elected to represent both of the constituencies in Hambantota district. Don Alwin Rajapaksa was elected MP for Beliatta and Lakshman Rajapaksa (Don Mathew's son) was elected MP for Hambantota. The Rajapaksas continued to dominate politics in Hambantota district for next three decades with two other members of the family, George Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, also entering parliament. The Rajapaksas were represented in the country's legislatures continuously from 1936 till 1977. This streak ended after the UNP landslide at the 1977 parliamentary election.
The family re-emerged as the dominant political force in Hambantota district when Mahinda and his brother Chamal Rajapaksa were elected in the 1989 parliamentary election to represent Hambantota Electoral District. They were later joined by Nirupama Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa.
Although the Rajapaksas had dominated politics in Hambantota District since 1936, national politics had been dominated by other families such as the Senanayake family and Bandaranaike family. This changed in 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president. Since then, members of the family have been appointed to senior political positions. Immediately after being elected president, Mahinda appointed his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as Defence Secretary, the most senior civil service position in the Ministry of Defence. Another brother, Basil Rajapaksa, was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor. In 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected President contesting against a grand opposition coalition that included UNP, TNA, JVP. At the 2010 Parliamentary Elections, Chamal Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa were elected. Basil Rajapaksa received 425,100 preferential votes from the Gampaha District, the highest by any candidate at the 2010 General election while Namal Rajapaksa obtained 147,568 preferential votes from Hambantota District, the highest majority percentage-wise at the election. Subsequently, Chamal was elected as the Speaker of Parliament unanimously and Basil was appointed as the Minister of Economic Development. Between them the three Rajapaksa brothers are in charge of five government ministries: Defence & Urban Development, Law & Order, Economic Development, Finance & Planning and Ports & Highways. At one point the brothers reportedly directly controlled 70% of the national budget. The Rajapaksas denied having control over such amounts. According to the 2014 budget the brothers have been allocated 47% of the national budget (40% of recurrent budget and 57% of capital budget).
Numerous other members of the extended family have also been appointed to senior positions state institutions. The accumulation of so much power by one family has inevitably led to accusations of nepotism. The Rajapaksas deny the charges of nepotism even though evidence of large amounts of corruption, such as the censorship of journalists and the family's unwillingness to yield power to recent victorious Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka, exist everywhere the country.
After the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration which resulted in the loss of their senior positions, some brothers of Mahinda Rajapaksa have fled from the country to avoid being arrested on charges of corruption and wrongdoing.
Following the 2015 presidential election defeat, the Rajapaksa family were accused of misusing public resources during the campaign, including use of the Sri Lankan Air Force in the campaign that cost $17,273.28 (Rs. 2,278,000.00) of public funds. The Rajapaksa family received numerous state resource abuse complaints from organisations and election monitors, including involvement in fraud, misuse of powers, and murder. Among the charges are money laundering said to have taken $5.31 billion (Rs. 700 billion) out of the country illegally through Sri Lanka's Central Bank using Mahinda Rajapaksa's close association with Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the former governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
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Rajapaksa family
The Rajapaksa family (Sinhala: රාජපක්ෂ, romanized: Rājapakṣa) is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. They have been particularly prominent in Sri Lankan national politics since 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president.
As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown, several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens, which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy.
The Rajapaksas are a rural land-owning family from the village Giruwapattuwa in the southern district of Hambantota. The family owned paddy fields and coconut plantations. One of its members, Don David Rajapaksa, held the feudal post of Vidanarachchi in Ihala Valikada Korale. The family entered the political scene when Don David Rajapaksa's son Don Mathew Rajapaksa was elected in 1936 to represent Hambantota district in the State Council. Don Mathew died in 1945 and at the resulting by-election his brother Don Alwin Rajapaksa was elected without a contest. At the 1947 parliamentary election, two members of the family were elected to represent both of the constituencies in Hambantota district. Don Alwin Rajapaksa was elected MP for Beliatta and Lakshman Rajapaksa (Don Mathew's son) was elected MP for Hambantota. The Rajapaksas continued to dominate politics in Hambantota district for next three decades with two other members of the family, George Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, also entering parliament. The Rajapaksas were represented in the country's legislatures continuously from 1936 till 1977. This streak ended after the UNP landslide at the 1977 parliamentary election.
The family re-emerged as the dominant political force in Hambantota district when Mahinda and his brother Chamal Rajapaksa were elected in the 1989 parliamentary election to represent Hambantota Electoral District. They were later joined by Nirupama Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa.
Although the Rajapaksas had dominated politics in Hambantota District since 1936, national politics had been dominated by other families such as the Senanayake family and Bandaranaike family. This changed in 2005 when Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president. Since then, members of the family have been appointed to senior political positions. Immediately after being elected president, Mahinda appointed his brother Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as Defence Secretary, the most senior civil service position in the Ministry of Defence. Another brother, Basil Rajapaksa, was appointed Senior Presidential Advisor. In 2010 Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected President contesting against a grand opposition coalition that included UNP, TNA, JVP. At the 2010 Parliamentary Elections, Chamal Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa were elected. Basil Rajapaksa received 425,100 preferential votes from the Gampaha District, the highest by any candidate at the 2010 General election while Namal Rajapaksa obtained 147,568 preferential votes from Hambantota District, the highest majority percentage-wise at the election. Subsequently, Chamal was elected as the Speaker of Parliament unanimously and Basil was appointed as the Minister of Economic Development. Between them the three Rajapaksa brothers are in charge of five government ministries: Defence & Urban Development, Law & Order, Economic Development, Finance & Planning and Ports & Highways. At one point the brothers reportedly directly controlled 70% of the national budget. The Rajapaksas denied having control over such amounts. According to the 2014 budget the brothers have been allocated 47% of the national budget (40% of recurrent budget and 57% of capital budget).
Numerous other members of the extended family have also been appointed to senior positions state institutions. The accumulation of so much power by one family has inevitably led to accusations of nepotism. The Rajapaksas deny the charges of nepotism even though evidence of large amounts of corruption, such as the censorship of journalists and the family's unwillingness to yield power to recent victorious Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka, exist everywhere the country.
After the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration which resulted in the loss of their senior positions, some brothers of Mahinda Rajapaksa have fled from the country to avoid being arrested on charges of corruption and wrongdoing.
Following the 2015 presidential election defeat, the Rajapaksa family were accused of misusing public resources during the campaign, including use of the Sri Lankan Air Force in the campaign that cost $17,273.28 (Rs. 2,278,000.00) of public funds. The Rajapaksa family received numerous state resource abuse complaints from organisations and election monitors, including involvement in fraud, misuse of powers, and murder. Among the charges are money laundering said to have taken $5.31 billion (Rs. 700 billion) out of the country illegally through Sri Lanka's Central Bank using Mahinda Rajapaksa's close association with Ajith Nivard Cabraal, the former governor of Central Bank of Sri Lanka.