Gotabaya Rajapaksa

How will the bombshell charge that the Rajapaksas were complicit in the 2019 Easter bombings impact Sri Lankan politics? 

A British TV report alleged that a top intelligence official helped plan the bombings in a plot to bolster the election chances of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The report said Rajapaksa, then a powerful defense official, ordered the destruction of all police records older than five years after mass graves were discovered in the Matale district of central Sri Lanka in 2013.

Yes, Sri Lankans drove President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from office – but did they accomplish any lasting change?

For far too long Sri Lanka has been a stage with the Rajapaksas as the only meaningful actors. A democratic renewal may be all that can save the country in the long run.

The government is concerned about renewed protests against the unpopular former leader, while opposition figures worry Rajapaksa will try to find a way to re-enter politics.

While the government says it is willing to engage with the international community to seek closure of human rights issues, any solution should conform to the country's constitution.

If passed into law, the amendments would reinstate democratic reforms made in 2015 and then reversed in 2020 under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

He will remain in the post until Parliament elects a new president to serve out the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term, ending in 2024.

Public ire turns against Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has been appointed acting president.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised to step down, while Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.

The country needs a credible government that enjoys legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Forming one will be a herculean task.

Protesters had successfully demanded the prime minister’s resignation, but they want his brother gone from the presidency as well.

One member of the Sri Lankan diaspora reflects on the agony of watching his motherland lurch from crisis to crisis. 

The president's selection of Wickremesinghe a five-time former prime minister, is an attempt to end the violence and restore international credibility.

Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, backed by the ruling coalition led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was re-elected deputy speaker after having resigned in April.

A majority vote in the 225-member Parliament would be needed to remove Rajapaksa and the Cabinet from power. 

MP (and former president) Sirisena says Gotabaya Rajapaksa has agreed to a national council and a new prime minister; the prime minister's spokesperson said that had not been communicated yet.

But Sri Lanka's ruling family is refusing to heed the demand for their resignation.

“The political and economic crisis have exposed the multiple failures of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency.”

Under pressure from the people to resign, Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa are scheming separately, each to sink the other to save his own seat.

The united voices of the people must be heard: “Gota Must Go.”

Facing Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis, the Rajapaksa family's appeals to national security and Sinhala Buddhist nationalism may no longer be enough to keep them in power.

The ruling coalition, which commanded a two-thirds majority last month, is now battling for survival.