Rajapaksa changes his mind about second term as president
SRI LANKA’S president Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced on Monday (19) he would stand for a second term, reversing a promise to only stay for five years, media reports said.
The 72-year-old leader told top media executives he needed more time to fix Sri Lanka’s worsening economic crisis, reports said. During his triumphant 2019 election campaign, Rajapaksa said he would be a one-term president.
He reaffirmed in March last year that one five-year term was sufficient to implement his ambitious manifesto, triggering a succession struggle within the powerful Rajapaksa family that dominates the government.
Elections are not due until 2024, but Rajapaksa now says he needs five more years to implement his “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour” manifesto after the economy contracted by a record 3.6 per cent in his first year. The government has banned many imports because of a foreign currency crunch.
Rajapaksa “today declared that he would contest for a second term”, the pro-government The Morning website quoted him as telling media owners.
Other media also reported on the comments, which set off new speculation about the intentions of the ruling family. The elevation of the president’s youngest brother Basil, 70, as finance minister earlier this month was widely seen as a move to groom him for the presidency. Basil was thought to have edged out his nephew, Namal, the minister of sports and eldest son of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“Another U-turn and maybe this squashes Basil’s chances for the next presidency,” said Jamila Husain, a deputy editor of the newspaper, on Twitter.