Sri Lanka’s new president assures jittery minorities

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a brother of ex-prez Mahinda, was the defence chief during Lankan civil war

COLOMBO: After a divisive vote that pitted majority Sinhalese Buddhists against minority Tamils and Muslims, Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Sunday said he is the president of all Sri Lankans.

“I am well aware that I am bound to serve all Sri Lankans despite their racial or religious barriers. I assure that I would conduct accordingly and I thank my citizens for electing me,” said the seventh president of the island nation.

In a separate Facebook post, he said: “Sri Lankans chose hope over fear, unity over conflict, smile over anger. Our vision for a better tomorrow, won the hearts and the minds of the people. From now on, the path to great achievements lies open in front of us and this was our first step together with many other accomplishments to follow. I promise not to stop, until we reach the heights Sri Lankans aspire to.”

But that may not be enough to assure the minorities. Rajapaksa, 70, oversaw the military defeat of Tamil separatists under his brother and then president Mahinda Rajapaksa 10 years ago.

Tamil political parties are strongly opposed to Rajapaksa, who has faced allegations of widespread human rights violations of civilians in the final stages of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Muslims, the other large minority group, say they too have faced hostility since the April attacks on hotels and churches in which more than 250 people were killed.

“His victory shows a division, and this could create more issues specially for other ethnic groups. I don’t know how he will tackle Muslims and Tamils,” said Victor Ivan, a political columnist.

Rajapaksa was heavily defeated in Tamil and Muslimmajority Northern and Eastern Provinces. The Tamils in all five administrative districts in the Northern province - Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mulaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar, and the majority Muslims in three districts in the Eastern Province - Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara - voted against Rajapaksa in favour of the main rival Sajith Premadasa. Eight out of nine districts won by Premadasa were from the North and the Eastern provinces.

Following the end of the ethnic war against Tamil rebels in May 2009, the United Nations alleged that there were serious human rights violations that could amount to war crimes but the Rajapaksas have rejected the allegations.

Rajapaksa led the election campaign with national security as the topmost priority and vowed that he would eliminate terrorists. He also promised to cut the 15% value added tax by nearly half and abolish some other taxes as a way to reignite consumption and growth.

Rajapaksa faced allegations of human rights violations during the civil war which ended with the death of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009

When he was defence secretary under his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who was president at the time, he was accused of overseeing torture and indiscriminate killings of both civilians and combatants, and later of political assassinations

China is making inroads into Sri Lanka, an important commercial hub along maritime routes

Rajapaksa and his brothers, who are expected to get key positions, are seen as closer to China

During Mahinda’s regime, China started investing in infrastructure projects

He and his brother Mahinda are also accused of condoning sexual violence and extrajudicial killings allegedly by Lankan security forces during the war

But these projects have also led to high debt levels for Sri Lanka

The Hambantota port, which was funded by a Chinese loan during Mahinda’s regime, was leased to Beijing in a 99-year debt-for-equity swap in 2017 after the country failed to pay off the debt

Born on June 20, 1949, in Palatuwa in Matara district to a powerful political family as the fifth of nine siblings

His father D A Rajapaksa was a prominent politician in 1960s in the Wijeyananda Dahanayake government and also a founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party

Joined the Ceylon Army as a Cadet Officer in 1971

In 1991, he was appointed deputy commandant of the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy and held the position until 1992

Attended the counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school in Assam in 1980

Gained a masters in defence studies from the University of Madras in 1983

Visited India in 2012 and

2013 in his capacity as the defence secretary