| Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa MP | |
|---|---|
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Background
Mahinda Rajapaksa was born in Weeraketiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota.[4] He hails from a well-known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. D. M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Councillor for Hambantota in the 1930s who started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan (finger millet) cultivated by the people of his area, whose cause he championed throughout his life. It is from his example that Rajapaksa wears his characteristic shawl.[4]
Early life and education
Rajapaksa was educated at Richmond College in Galle, before moving to Nalanda College, Colombo and later Thurstan College.[4]Mahinda Rajapaksa was presented with the Nalanda Keerthi Sri award in 2004 by his alma mater, Nalanda College.[5] He has also appeared in the Sinhalese film Nomiyena Minisun in 1994 and worked as a library assistant at Vidyodaya University.[6][7] Later he studied law at the Sri Lanka Law College and took oaths as an attorney-at-law in November 1977.[8] Throughout his parliamentary career, except for the period from 1994–2001 when he was a minister, he continued his law practice in Tangalle.[4]
Family and personal life
In 1983 Rajapaksa married Shiranthi Wickremasinghe, a child-psychologist and educator. Shiranthi Rajapaksa is the daughter of E. P. Wickramasinghe, a retired Commodore of the Sri Lanka Navy.[9] The Rajapaksas have three sons, Namal, Yoshitha and Rohitha. In April 2010 Namal Rajapaksa was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Hambantota District, obtaining the highest number of preferential votes in his father's former district. Namal was again selected for the parliament by obtaining highest votes from Hambantota district in 2015 General Elections as well. Yoshitha was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Navy in March 2009.[10]
A number of members of Rajapaksa's family are currently active in politics.[11] One brother, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa a former military officer who served in the Sri Lanka Army for 20 years is the former secretary of the Ministry of Defense until Mahinda Rajapakse's presidency was over on 9 January 2015.
Another brother, Basil Rajapaksa, was elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka from the Gampaha District obtaining the largest number of votes by any candidate in the April 2010 general election, and was appointed Minister of Economic Development. Basil was arrested in April 2015 for many corruptions.
His eldest brother Chamal Rajapaksa has been a Member of Parliament since 1989, and was elected Speaker of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka. Currently Chamal is a member of the parliament. Other family members involved in politics include his nephew, Shashindra Rajapaksa, who was the Chief Minister of the Uva Province. Shameendra Rajapaksa (second son of Chamal Rajapaksa), Director SriLankan Airlines, his cousins Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka's ambassador to the United States, Udayanga Weeratunga, Sri Lanka's ambassador to Russia, Prasanna Wickramasuriya, Chairman Airport & Aviation Services Limited Sri Lanka and Rajapaksa's brother-in-law Nishantha Wickramasinghe is the Chairman of SriLankan Airlines.[12]
Rajapaksa is known to be superstitious and wears talismans and consults astrologers in his decision-making.[13] He is known for acquiring a large number valuable rings as lucky charms, some with coloured stones and elephant hair and earned the reputation as a "Lord of rings". During a wedding he attended as a VIP guest he lost a gem-studded ring which was recovered after his security and hotel staff found the ring fallen near a VIP table after covertly searching under carpets and the washrooms.[
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