Sri Lanka has a new President – Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The President-elect, who is euphemistically called a “no-nonsense” military man, served as Sri Lanka’s defence chief when his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister of the island nation between 2005 and 2015.
His electoral victory, which capitalised on the public fury over Easter bombings, marks a political comeback for the Rajapaksa family. However, his presidency is a cause for concern; it could turn the island nation into a dangerous tizzy of majoritarianism once again.
Much of Gotabaya’s support comes from the Sinhala-Buddhist majority, who make up seventy per cent of the island nation’s twenty-two million people. This gave him a decisive victory over his main political opponent, Sajith Premadasa, leader of the United Nationalist Party who gathered support from minority Tamil regions.
However, Gotabaya has a history of human rights violations, particularly in dealing with the country’s minorities. As Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, he is believed to have been directly involved in perpetrating war crimes, especially against the Tamil speaking people in northern, eastern and central parts of the country.
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