{"id":42183,"date":"2015-07-16T02:18:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T06:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42183"},"modified":"2015-07-16T02:18:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T06:18:55","slug":"mahinda-rajapaksa-planned-his-return-to-power-for-months-at-meetings-held-at-a-buddhist-temple-in-colombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42183","title":{"rendered":"Mahinda Rajapaksa Planned his Return to Power for Months at Meetings Held at a Buddhist Temple in Colombo."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Dharisha Bastians<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka \u2014<\/strong><\/em> Former President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka, who was defeated in January, now has a chance to make a major political comeback after his successor cleared the way for him to run for a seat in Parliament in elections scheduled for Aug. 17.<\/p>\n

President Maithripala Sirisena said this week that he did not have the power to block Mr. Rajapakse\u2019s run for Parliament, because the alliance of parties he leads is still dominated by people loyal to the former president. But Mr. Sirisena has come under fire from some of his former supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never thought he would consent to bring the corrupt Rajapakse regime back to power after we defeated him,\u201d said Saman Ratnapriya, a trade union activist whose collective was part of 49 civil society organizations that backed Mr. Sirisena\u2019s presidential bid. \u201cHe has betrayed us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Mr. Sirisena sought to reassure those groups, vowing that he would not allow the former president to be named prime minister, even if Mr. Rajapakse\u2019s alliance gained a majority in the August elections.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sirisena said that he \u201cstrongly disagreed\u201d with the decision to nominate Mr. Rajapakse as a parliamentary candidate.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But analysts say that Mr. Sirisena may not have much choice, if the coalition to which he and his rival belong, the United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance, wins a majority. Mr. Rajapakse, who formally declared his candidacy on Monday, will run for a seat in the northwestern Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka\u2019s third most populous, which would strengthen his claim to be named prime minister if the alliance gains a majority.<\/p>\n

For months, Mr. Rajapakse has been planning his return to power, meeting with loyal politicians and members of the news media at a prominent Buddhist temple in Colombo.<\/p>\n

On July 1, he summoned thousands of supporters and reporters to his ancestral home in southern Sri Lanka to officially announce his return to active politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not ready to reject the appeal you are all making,\u201d he said. \u201cFor the sake of this country, for the sake of the motherland, we must contest in the upcoming parliamentary elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several ministers, lawmakers and provincial councilors left the United People\u2019s Freedom Alliance on Sunday to protest the decision to allow Mr. Rajapakse to run. \u201cSri Lanka will not go back to the dark ages again,\u201d said Champika Ranawaka, Mr. Sirisena\u2019s energy minister.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:New York Times<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dharisha Bastians COLOMBO, Sri Lanka \u2014 Former President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka, who was defeated in January, now has a chance to make a major political comeback after his successor cleared the way for him to run for a seat in Parliament in elections scheduled for Aug. 17. President Maithripala Sirisena said this …<\/p>\n

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