{"id":42640,"date":"2015-08-15T00:24:25","date_gmt":"2015-08-15T04:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42640"},"modified":"2015-08-15T00:24:25","modified_gmt":"2015-08-15T04:24:25","slug":"foundations-of-rajapaksa-kingdom-shaking-in-hambantota-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=42640","title":{"rendered":"Foundations of Rajapaksa Kingdom Shaking in Hambantota District"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n
\nOn the Spot Report by Dharisha Bastians <\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

In Murungasyaya, a few villages away from Beliatta, the seat of Rajapaksa power, the king coconut seller scrunches up her face and furrows her eyebrows. Sharmali Subashini is trying to recall which party had been able to muster the bigger crowd at back-to-back rallies in Weeraketiya this week.<\/p>\n

Finally she decides it\u2019s too difficult. \u201cMr. Sajith Premadasa had a huge crowd at his rally two days ago. But then yesterday, the sandhanaya rally was also very big. Janadhipathithuma came for that meeting so people came from everywhere to see him,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Janadhipathithuma is not President Maithripala Sirisena of course. In regions that have favoured the UPFA in dozens of recent elections and especially in Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s home base of Hambantota, there is still only one Janadhipathithuma. Rajapaksa had been president for so long, and stamped his presence so thoroughly around this remote southern district, there isn\u2019t much room for anyone else.<\/p>\n

But there is a difference this time, Subashini admits. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen the UNP activists work so hard. It\u2019s like they were sleeping all this time or scared to come out during elections. Suddenly they are everywhere \u2013 I think that\u2019s why both parties have support in this election. This time it\u2019s a real fight,\u201d she explains, casually splitting king coconuts with a huge mallet so that her customers can dig into the soft flesh inside the nut after consuming the water.<\/p>\n

The remote village deep inside the rural district is split down the middle, the woman says, with UNP Deputy Leader and Hambantota District candidate Sajith Premadasa also popular in the region.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Middeniya is one village over and even closer to Beliatta. Here support for Rajapaksa is much more potent. \u201cHe is from this village, the people here prefer to vote for the game miniha says G.K. Champika, who runs a grocery shop in the small town.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday in Weeraketiya, it was the Mahinda sulanga (winds) that was blowing,\u201d gushes Bennet Indika, a jeweller in the Middeniya town, quoting a famous slogan of the Rajapaksa campaign.<\/p>\n

The UPFA rally featuring the former President had five times the crowd that had attended Premadasa\u2019s rally, Indika claims.<\/p>\n

Family triumvirate<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Mahinda Rajapaksa is not contesting in his home district of 460,000 registered electors, choosing the more populous Kurunegala District instead to realise his prime ministerial ambitions. Indika believes people in Hambantota will vote for Rajapaksa by proxy, by supporting his brother Chamal, the former speaker of Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Chamal Rajapaksa who has the most support here,\u201d the Middeniya jeweller explains, \u201cand then his son, Namal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three members of the Rajapaksa family are contesting in the Hambantota District at Monday\u2019s election. His son Namal, his brother Chamal and his niece Nirupama are all candidates in the district race. Namal Rajapaksa, the former President\u2019s eldest son, topped the preferential list in the district in the 2010 parliamentary election, a contest held four months after Mahinda Rajapaksa won big in presidential elections held in January the same year. In 2010 the Rajapaksa star was shining at its brightest, less than a year after Government troops defeated the LTTE in battle, ending a 26-year civil war. <\/p>\n

The August 2015 parliamentary battle is a completely different story. Former MP Namal Rajapaksa, used to campaigning with an entourage of loyalists, buses and jeep convoys, is running a lonely campaign in his father\u2019s hometown. \u201cThis time we have to play the Opposition ball game,\u201d says Rajapaksa the younger, seated in the foyer of his Carlton family home in Tangalle.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast time the mistake we made was being so sure we would win by 2.5 million votes. We focused on glitz and glamour of big rallies instead of going to the people, so this time we are doing pocket meetings and door-to-door campaigns, trying to win back supporters we have lost since 8 January,\u201d the former President\u2019s son explains about his much quieter campaign in the district.<\/p>\n

Carlton is a museum of Rajapaksa family memories, its crowning glory placed at the very entrance to the house, features Mahinda Rajapaksa taking oaths as President of Sri Lanka for the first time in November 2005. A much younger Namal Rajapaksa stands close by, with his younger brothers Yoshitha and Rohitha beside him. <\/p>\n

On the foyer wall, hangs a framed portrait of Rohitha Rajapaksa, in full nilame costume. Namal indignantly denies allegations that President Rajapaksa\u2019s family was his Achilles\u2019 heel. \u201cWas our crime the fact that we didn\u2019t go to nightclubs and get into fights,\u201d says Namal on allegations that the conduct of his siblings may have led to their father\u2019s shocking defeat in the January election.<\/p>\n

But even he admits that the huge anti-Rajapaksa propaganda wave has affected his electoral fortunes slightly. \u201cThe Rajapaksa surname is a problem because of the mudslinging,\u201d he claims.
\nCarlton House is by no means empty, but it\u2019s not overflowing with Rajapaksa supporters and vehicles the way it once was during election season, residents in the area claim.<\/p>\n

Amaraweera popularity <\/strong><\/p>\n

On Wednesday (12) morning, Rajapaksa stops by at an election meeting organizsd by fellow candidate Mahinda Amaraweera. Amaraweera aides say Rajapaksa had called the candidate and asked if he could speak briefly at the meeting, which had attracted a considerable crowd. <\/p>\n

His popularity in this election is causing chatter about the fact that the Rajapaksa family had suppressed his electoral fortunes in the 2010 poll, when Amaraweera came in second to Namal Rajapaksa in the district.<\/p>\n

Speaking about Rajapaksa fortunes in Monday\u2019s election, Amaraweera says that Mahinda Rajapaksa is still very popular in Hambantota. \u201cBut just because he is popular, that doesn\u2019t mean that his family is going to get all the votes, not this time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Amaraweera, who accepted a ministerial portfolio in the Sirisena Government, is emerging as the UPFA front man in the district, even as the Rajapaksa star loses lustre in the area. He tells Daily FT that he had managed to swing the UPFA\u2019s fortunes in the Hambantota District by the final week of campaigning, with many party supporters being brought back into the fold. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning to be honest, we were quite worried. Sajith had made major inroads into the district while the SLFP was having problems. Now we\u2019re confident we can win, Tissamaharama was difficult, but now even that is looking good,\u201d Amaraweera said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we lose Hambantota, we lose the election islandwide,\u201d the Minister said on Wednesday. Amaraweera supporter Ramani Jayanthi who attended the meeting, said she was sure the Minister would top the Hambantota list in this election. \u201cThis time it won\u2019t be the Rajapaksas on top,\u201d she says smiling confidently.<\/p>\n

Hinting broadly at the Rajapaksa campaign, Amaraweera claims that there were some factions within the party that initially went around the district telling people not to vote for those who had accepted ministerial office in the Sirisena Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen when they realised that the UNP was getting stronger in the district, they got worried and stopped that tactic,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Sajith Premadasa is reported to have made serious inroads in the district, where he is already a significantly popular politician. Over the period of this election campaign, Premadasa has addressed over a thousand pocket meetings, in tiny villages and grama sevaka divisions in the remote district.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Premadasa was tackling the Katuwana divisional secretariat, with its 184 GS divisions. His convoy of jeeps manage to ply the narrow roads and steep hills that lead to the meetings, often held in the home of the local organiser. <\/p>\n

In Kongasthanna, Premadasa gets out of his vehicle and treks up a rugged uphill path, muddy from recent rain to reach his 29th meeting of the day. The crowd of about 50 people go crazy at the sight of their beloved \u2018punchi ali patiya\u2019 walking up the steep hill.<\/p>\n

Premadasa legacy <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you that I will bring the national leadership to your doorstep and lay it at your feet someday,\u201d he pledges, urging people to support him in Monday\u2019s election. Premadasa tells the meetings that the 12,000 job vacancies in his Ministry will be reserved for the Hambantota District and he promises housing assistance and subsidies.<\/p>\n

Premadasa insists that he wants to take at least four or five members to Parliament on the UNP ticket at this election. For once it is his party that is rift-free and taking a strong united stand. <\/p>\n

While the Rajapaksa family has their bastions of power in the district, the Premadasa legacy also holds strong in the region. Hambantota is filled with beneficiaries of Ranasinghe Premadasa\u2019s successful Janasaviya program and long before the Rajapaksa regime began building roads in the remote district, it was roads built during President Premadasa\u2019s tenure that connected the rural interior to townships in the area. <\/p>\n

Heir to this still potent legacy, Premadasa Junior is able to muster considerable crowds at his rallies and is cautiously optimistic about the UNP\u2019s fortunes in Hambantota. His party activists claim it is the first time in years that they have felt safe about working openly for the UNP in the Hambantota District. In recent elections, the UNP has found it difficult to maintain even party offices or mark any kind of presence in the Rajapaksa stronghold.<\/p>\n

Even die hard Rajapaksa supporter Indika admits this election campaign has been completely unlike any others he has seen. \u201cThere are no posters or cutouts anywhere, I can\u2019t believe it. It has been so peaceful,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Asked if it\u2019s more peaceful than elections were in his hero\u2019s time, Indika grudgingly admits that is true. \u201cI suppose we have to say that much for this Government,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Forecasts for the Hambantota district show a tight race, with a slight edge for the UPFA. The alliance is likely to secure a majority, but it is increasingly uncertain if a Rajapaksa family member will top the district\u2019s preferential list.<\/p>\n

With the foundations of the Rajapaksa kingdom shaking for the first time in a decade, the race for Hambantota will be an interesting contest to watch. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily FT<\/em><\/p>\n

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On the Spot Report by Dharisha Bastians In Murungasyaya, a few villages away from Beliatta, the seat of Rajapaksa power, the king coconut seller scrunches up her face and furrows her eyebrows. Sharmali Subashini is trying to recall which party had been able to muster the bigger crowd at back-to-back rallies in Weeraketiya this week. …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Foundations of Rajapaksa Kingdom Shaking in Hambantota District’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42641,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42640\/revisions\/42641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}