Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who is the 9th and current President of Sri Lanka. He also holds several ministerial positions,including the Minister of Finance,Minister of Defence,Minister of Technology and Minister of Women,Child Affairs and Social Empowerment.
Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015;the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005,2018,and 2019 to 2022;the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019,and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.
Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the first openly gay politician from Sri Lanka. He was the Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2019,and the Minister of Foreign Affairs,for two terms from 2005 to 2007 and 2015 to 2017. He created a stir in Sri Lankan politics when he was sacked as a minister by President Mahinda Rajapakse in 2007,after which he formed a new political party called the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (Mahajana) Wing,which later merged with the United National Party in 2010.
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa,is a former Sri Lankan politician and military officer,who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022 due to months of public anger. He previously served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 under the administration of his elder brother former President Mahinda Rajapaksa,during the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Maithripala Yapa Sirisena is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh President of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He is currently a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa.
Basil Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan-American politician. He is a former Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for the national list.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara is a Sri Lankan left-wing politician,Member of Parliament and presidential candidate in the 1982 and 1999 Sri Lankan presidential elections.
The Rajapaksa family 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. 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
Lieutenant Commander Yoshitha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan sportsman and former naval officer. He is the son of the sixth president of Sri Lanka,Mahinda Rajapaksa and served as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
Hirunika Eranjali Premachandra Yattowita better known as Hirunika Premachandra is a member of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. She is a former Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament from the United National Party and a former member of the Western Provincial Council. Born to Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra,Hirunika was educated at Visakha Vidyalaya.
The Constitutional Council (CC) is a 10-member constitutional authority in Sri Lanka tasked with maintaining independent commissions and monitoring its affairs. The Constitutional Council is aimed at depoliticizing the public service.
A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe,resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal,and he refused to resign.
Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019. The incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena's term of office would have ended on 9 January 2020. This was the first presidential election in Sri Lanka where no sitting president,prime minister or opposition leader ran for president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the election in a landslide victory,defeating his main opponent Sajith Premadasa.
The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka is the current Parliament of Sri Lanka,with the membership determined by the results of the 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka the maximum legislative term of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.
Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry,PC,MP,,also known as Ali Sabry,is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the Current Minister of External Affairs serving since 22 July 2022. He previously served as the Minister of Finance until 9 May 2022. He was a Member of Parliament,appointed from the national list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He also served as the Minister of Justice until 9 May 2022. He served as the defense counsel of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa,chief legal adviser and President of the Muslim Federation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
Bandula Jayasekara also known as Bandula Jayasekera was a Sri Lankan journalist,broadcaster,newspaper editor and diplomat.
The 2022 Sri Lankan protests,commonly known as The Struggle,were a series of mass protests that began in March 2022 against the government of Sri Lanka. The government was heavily criticized for mismanaging the Sri Lankan economy,which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation,daily blackouts,and a shortage of fuel,domestic gas,and other essential goods. The protesters' main demand was the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and key officials from the Rajapaksa family. Despite the involvement of several opposition parties,most protesters considered themselves to be apolitical,with many expressing discontent with the parliamentary opposition. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Go Home Gota","Go Home Rajapaksas",and "Aragalayata Jaya Wewa". Most protests were organized by the general public,with youths playing a major part by carrying out protests at Galle Face Green.
The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the anti-government protests and demonstrations by the public due to the economic crisis in the country. The anti-government sentiment across various parts of Sri Lanka has triggered a state of political instability that is unprecedented in the nation's history.
D. A. Rajapaksa Museum also simply called the Rajapaksa Museum is a museum in Hambantota,Sri Lanka dedicated to the late D. A. Rajapaksa and his wife Dandina Rajapaksa of the Rajapaksa family,the parents of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The museum contained personal belongings of D.A and Dandina Rajapaksa including handwritten letters and photos of the Rajapaksa family. The construction of the museum has attracted controversy over the misuse of public funds and the use of state institutions such as the Sri Lankan Navy and Urban Development Authority. It was largely destroyed during the 2022 Sri Lankan Protests.
