Category: News

When embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa attempted to flee his country in the face of economic and political crisis this week, he chose the United Arab Emirates as his preferred destination, underscoring the ruling Rajapaksa family’s ties to the Persian Gulf financial hub.

Rajapaksa and some of his relatives, including a former finance minister, were stopped from boarding flights to Dubai, the UAE’s commercial center, on Tuesday as protesters surrounded the airport, CNN reported. Rajapaksa was expected to resign today, but instead fled to the Maldives on a military jet, with some media speculating that he may head to Dubai at a later stage.

The vast wealth of the Rajapaksa family, who have dominated the country’s politics for nearly two decades, became a flashpoint in massive protests that have engulfed the country since March as Sri Lanka faces critical shortages of fuel, medicines and other goods partly triggered by years of mismanagement of state funds. A series of top political resignations left the president and his brother, then-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, further isolated. The mass demonstrations culminated in hundreds of protesters occupying the palaces of the president and prime minister on Saturday, partying at the estates and setting the latter on fire in recent days.

The hidden assets of some Rajapaksa family members were revealed last fall in the Pandora Papers, a global investigation of offshore finance led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The documents revealed how Nirupama Rajapaksa, a scion of the ruling family, and her husband, businessman Thirukumar Nadesan, had used secretive shell companies and trusts to accumulate more than $18 million in tax havens, and own artworks and luxury properties in London and Sydney.

The Pandora Papers documents, leaked from 14 offshore service providers, show that the couple has secret ownership ties to UAE properties as well.

Included in the leak of 11.9 million confidential files are utility bills, a UAE resident identity card and other records showing that, as of 2019, Nadesan and the couple’s two children were residents of Dubai. The documents link them to an apartment in a luxury residential skyscraper but don’t say whether the family owns the property.

Nadesan, identified in the files as the manager of a Dubai-based asphalt trader in 2016, also listed another Dubai address as his residence in an application to open a bank account for one of his shell companies.

Nirupama Rajapaksa is related to both Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Mahinda, who over the years have exchanged top posts, including president and prime minister until recently, when both were forced to step down amid the economic crisis

Following the Pandora Papers revelations about the couple’s offshore holdings last October, President Rajapaksa announced his government will look into the matter and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption launched an investigation. But the probe stalled, according to Sri Lankan media which cited banks’ delay in providing information about Nadesan and Nirupama Rajapaksa’s accounts.

In the meantime, she has traveled to Dubai at least once, Sri Lankan newspapers reported. Their son, who resides in the emirate according to the leaked records, often parades his luxurious lifestyle in the Gulf in selfies published on his Instagram channel.

Images captured on a blog show the young man dining on a rooftop against the backdrop of Dubai’s night skyline.

Nirupama Rajapaksa, Nadesan and their son did not respond to ICIJ’s requests for comments sent via email and Instagram.

A rising hideaway for powerful exiles
In recent years, the UAE has become a popular destination for oligarchs and criminals who seek a safe haven to hide their wealth after other offshore jurisdictions introduced more controls under pressure from the international community.

As part of the Pandora Papers investigation, ICIJ documented how the confederation of seven sheikdoms offers shell companies that mask their real owners’ identities, dozens of internal free-trade zones that provide even more shadows for them to hide in, and a regulatory system known for what anti-corruption advocates call its “ask-no-questions, see-no-evil approach” to dealing with money tied to gold smuggling, arms trafficking and other crimes.

Source: International consortium of investigative journalists

The state owned Independent Television Network (ITN) went off air a short while ago after a group of protestors tried to breach the security deployed at the premises and forcibly take over the channel.

The officials at ITN, it is learnt, have quickly taken the channel off air before the protestors entered the premises.

Earlier in the day, protestors forcibly entered the national television channel, Rupavahini, and took control of the telecast forcing the station to be taken off air. Rupavahini management got the channel back on air a few minutes ago after security personnel had cleared the premises.

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered to impose Curfew in the Western Province with immediate effect, Prime Minister’s Office said.

The Prime Minister’s Office states that the Emergency Law has been declared covering the entire island.

The measure comes after protesters demanding his resignation attempted to enter the Prime Minister’s Office on Flower Street this morning and police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police CD Wickramaratne and the security forces have been instructed to arrest those rioting and to seize vehicles that are transporting mobs including persons behaving in a violent manner into custody.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled Sri Lanka on a military jet, amid mass protests over the island’s economic crisis.

The country’s air force confirmed the 73-year-old flew to the Maldives with his wife and two security officials.

In his absence, he has appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president.

Mr Rajapaksa’s departure ends a family dynasty that has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for the past two decades.

The president had been in hiding after crowds stormed his residence on Saturday, and had pledged to resign on Wednesday 13 July.

A source told the BBC that Mr Rajapaksa will not remain in the Maldives and intends to travel on to a third country.

His brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, has also left Sri Lanka and is said to be heading to the US.

As Sri Lankans awoke to the news, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Colombo. Many gathered at Galle Face Green, the city’s main protest site. Some listened to fiery speeches at a makeshift stage set up for ordinary people to take the mic.

Punctuated by cries of “Victory to the struggle”, the rallying cry of the protest movement, speakers railed against a government and the leaders they feel have failed them.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has declared a state of emergency across the country and a curfew has been imposed in the western province, a spokesperson in his office said.

Police have fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who were walking near the prime minister’s office and towards parliament.

Some demonstrators were furious about Mr Rajapaksa’s departure, seeing a lack of accountability.

“We don’t like it. We want to keep him. We want our money back! And we want to put all the Rajapaksas in an open prison where they can do farm work,” said protester GP Nimal.

But 23-year-old university student Reshani Samarakoon told the BBC that the former president’s exile offered “hope that in the future we can eventually become a developed country, economically and socially”.

Sri Lankans blame President Rajapaksa’s administration for their worst economic crisis in decades.

For months they have been struggling with daily power cuts and shortages of basics like fuel, food and medicines.

The leader, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, is believed to have wanted to flee abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new administration.

Sri Lanka: The basics

Sri Lanka is an island nation off southern India: It won independence from British rule in 1948. Three ethnic groups – Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim – make up 99% of the country’s 22 million population.
One family of brothers has dominated for years: Mahinda Rajapaksa became a hero among the majority Sinhalese in 2009 when his government defeated Tamil separatist rebels after years of bitter and bloody civil war. His brother Gotabaya, who was defence secretary at the time, is the current president but says he is standing down.
Presidential powers: The president is the head of state, government and the military in Sri Lanka but does share a lot of executive responsibilities with the prime minister, who heads up the ruling party in parliament.
Now an economic crisis has led to fury on the streets: Soaring inflation has meant some foods, medication and fuel are in short supply, there are rolling blackouts and ordinary people have taken to the streets in anger with many blaming the Rajapaksa family and their government for the situation.

A remarkable win for protesters

What a fall from grace for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – for so long such a major figure in Sri Lanka.

Few expected that matters would ultimately go this way.

As the former defence chief he oversaw the military operations in the controversial war against the Tamil Tiger rebels that ended in 2009. He is accused of human rights abuses during the war and also targeting those who dissented, but he has always denied those accusations.

The Rajapaksa family has dominated Sri Lankan politics for two decades, and with strong backing from the Sinhala Buddhist majority, Gotabaya became president in 2019.

His departure is a remarkable victory for the protesters who came to the streets to express their anger against the mismanagement of the economy and the escalating cost of living.

The president’s departure threatens a potential power vacuum in Sri Lanka, which needs a functioning government to help start digging it out of financial ruin.

Politicians from other parties have been talking about forming a new unity government but there is no sign they are near agreement yet. It’s also not clear if the public would accept what they come up with.

Under the constitution, it’s the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who should act in the president’s stead if the latter resigns. The prime minister is considered the president’s deputy in parliament.

However, Mr Wickremesinghe is also deeply unpopular. Protesters set fire to his private residence on Saturday – he and his family were not inside – and he said he would resign to make way for a unity government, but gave no date.

That leaves the parliament’s speaker as the next most likely to step in as caretaker president, constitutional experts say. But Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena is an ally of the Rajapaksas, and it is unclear whether the public would accept his authority.

Whoever does become acting president has 30 days to hold an election for a new president from among members of parliament. The winner of that vote could then see out the remainder of Mr Rajapaksa’s term until late 2024.

On Monday, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa told the BBC he would be tilting for the presidency. But he also lacks public support and there is deep public suspicion of politicians in general.

The protest movement which has brought Sri Lanka to the brink of change also does not have an obvious contender for the country’s leadership.

Additional reporting by the BBC’s Frances Mao, Yaroslav Lukov and Simon Fraser.

For years, Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa dynasty ruled the island nation with an iron fist, striking fear into political opponents, journalists and other perceived threats to their power. Now protesters are chasing them out of their homes, and out of power.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 73, is set to resign on Wednesday after months of street protests over surging prices and shortages of basic goods such as food or petrol. After spending his time holed up at his official seaside residence, protesters shouting “Gota Go Home” forced him to flee on Saturday while breaching the gates of the compound in dramatic scenes.

The unrest showed the public fury at Rajapaksa, whose three-year adminisration has left Sri Lanka pleading for cash from the International Monetary Fund and nations like China and India after defaulting on foreign debt for the first time since independence from Britain in 1948. Bondholders are also furious: One last month named the Rajapaksas in a lawsuit seeking more than $250 million in unpaid debt — the first of potentially many others.

Yet it wasn’t only demonstrators that wanted Rajapaksa out of office: Even other members of his family saw him as a lame-duck leader. And one in particular, his 36-year-old nephew Namal Rajapaksa, has already been thinking of how the dynasty can restore its reputation over the long term even as the increasingly violent protests had some observers wondering if the whole family would be forced into exile.

In a recent interview at the ruling party’s office in Colombo, which was vandalized by a mob during the May 9 violence, Namal said that Gotabaya “should complete his term and then go.” He described the family’s current predicament as a “temporary setback,” adding that the goal now was “to provide as much stability as we can to address the basic needs of the people, and in the meantime work on long-term strategies.”

Namal is the eldest son of Mahinda Rajapaksa, 76, the current president’s brother who previously held the top job from 2005 to 2015. With Gotabaya as his defense minister during that time, Mahinda crushed a three-decade insurgency from Tamil rebels using brutal tactics that prompted widespread concerns about civilian deaths. At the same time, the brothers sought to crush political opposition and racked up billions of dollars worth of debt, mostly to China.

That decision drove a wedge between the brothers, according to people familiar with the situation, who said that Mahinda for weeks had resisted Gotabaya’s calls that he step aside before relenting. Of the six Rajapakas in the cabinet at the start of the year, Gotabaya was the last one standing — and he’ll soon be gone.

The tensions between the brothers reflects their different leadership styles, according to Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo-based research group.

“Mahinda is a populist politician who the people still love,” Saravanamuttu said. “But Gota is a much more reserved, introverted person, and has no experience in governance.”

Whereas public sparring had once been rare for the Rajapaksas, now they are pointing fingers at one another.

In an interview last month at his official residence now occupied by protesters, Gotabaya acknowledged that sweeping tax cuts and a fertilizer ban implemented shortly after he took office didn’t work. But he characterized those misfires as collective ones, and said his push for a bailout last year from the International Monetary Fund but was rebuffed by advisors and relatives until protests got out of hand.

“I didn’t get the support or proper implementation from people who were responsible,” Gotabaya said, adding that he wouldn’t stand again for the presidency after his term expires in 2024.

Namal said his father disagreed over whether to implement sweeping tax cuts and urged Gotabaya not to go ahead with an ill-timed ban on synthetic fertilizers. “Had my father been the president, he would have never taken that decision,” Namal said. Mahinda didn’t respond to requests for comment.

No matter who is responsible, the Rajapaksas are facing a record low and are in need of a rebrand. And Namal is positioning himself as the main person from the next generation to take the mantle.

During the interview, Namal spoke in a measured, calm voice like a seasoned politician. A fan of bodybuilding, the former sports minister wore a short-sleeved shirt that left part of his biceps visible.

Namal made clear that his policies would be more in line with those of his father than his uncle. Sri Lanka’s problem, he said, was that it deviated from a plan to turn Sri Lanka into a manufacturing and transshipment hub. He also saw a need to upgrade airports to attract more tourists and improve agricultural output so the country had ample supplies to feed itself.

He acknowledged his family’s history in the halls of power but also said he doesn’t believe in “dynastic politics.”

“My father started 55 years ago from Hambantota, I started five years ago — it’s a long journey in politics,” Namal said. “This is a rough patch, so face it and move forward.”

In Hambantota district on the southern coastline, the family’s base of power for decades, the political fate of the Rajapaksas remains in question. Armed soldiers patrol outside their sprawling ancestral bungalow, which was reduced to burned-out rubble in May. Locals also destroyed a museum built in the family’s honor, vandalized their tombs and toppled a gold-plated statue depicting a family hero.

The family’s connection to Hambantota stretches back decades. D.A. Rajapaksa, Mahinda and Gotabaya’s father, was a prominent lawmaker. Relatives have homes scattered across the district. Nuan Sameera, 60, a farmer from the village of Hukura Wallya, recalled fondly how Mahinda used to frequent a nearby temple and mingle with locals.

“They are part of us,” Sameera said, even as he criticized the Rajapaksas for the shortage of food and fertilizer.

Rajapaksa critics associate Hambantota with the clan’s extravagant spending habits. An international airport built a decade ago in their name is devoid of passenger flights. A sprawling cricket stadium hardly hosts international matches. And cargo ships barely dock at a $1 billion port constructed with Chinese money.

Even so, Mahinda remains popular in Hambantota, a largely agrarian district set amidst watery rice paddies and coconut trees. Sunil Rajapaksa, a farmer who isn’t related to the family but lives near one of their houses, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Namal leads the dynasty into a new era.

“If Bongbong Marcos could come back, why not the Rajapaksas?” he said, referring to the son of a former dictator who just won the presidency in the Philippines. “It’s just a matter of time before people realize that the Rajapaksas worked to better the country.”

Namal is clear about one thing: He has no plans to flee Sri Lanka, as some rumors suggested at the height of the chaos in May.

“We will never leave the country — it will never happen,” he said. “If the people don’t want us, they have the ballot — not the bullet.”