{"id":73678,"date":"2021-07-19T20:29:39","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T01:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=73678"},"modified":"2021-07-19T20:29:39","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T01:29:39","slug":"sri-lankan-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-states-he-would-seek-a-second-term-in-office-thereby-shifting-from-his-earlier-position-to-serve-only-one-termpresident-wanted-to-tell-the-people-of-the-co","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=73678","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa states he would seek a second term in office thereby shifting from his earlier position to serve only one Term;”President wanted to tell the people of the country and party workers who is really in charge,\u201d says a senior govt official"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday said he would seek a second term in office, shifting from his earlier position to serve only one term.<\/p>\n

Mr. Gotabaya, in a meeting with owners of local media institutions, spoke of having not just three years of his remaining term, but an additional five years, implying a second term, to fulfil his pledges, according to a tweet from the President\u2019s spokesman Kingsly Rathnayaka.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

President Gotabaya\u2019s announcement comes less than a fortnight after his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa was sworn in as Minister of Finance, a move that increased the first family\u2019s presence in the Cabinet to five members. Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, known as the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna\u2019s (SLPP or People\u2019s Front) architect and chief strategist, has a growing support base within the party, setting off speculation about his probable presidential bid in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like President Gotabaya wanted to set the record straight, by telling the people of the country and party workers who is really in charge,\u201d said a senior government official, who requested not to be named.<\/p>\n

Mr. Gotabaya\u2019s remarks coincide with growing criticism, including from his voters, of the government\u2019s apparent inability to address the acute financial strain on ordinary families, amid an unprecedented economic crisis stifling the country.<\/p>\n

In a recent meeting with provincial officials, the newly-appointed Finance Minister Mr. Basil remarked that reducing prices of essential goods will be the government’s immediate focus, as families were \u201cstruggling to have three meals\u201d, Tamil daily Virakesari reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Mr. Gotabaya, 72, had promised a people-centred economy in his poll manifesto titled \u2018Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour\u2019, which was later adopted as his government\u2019s policy framework following his big win in November 2019. With the pandemic affecting the country\u2019s revenue \u2014 mainly from exports, tourism, and worker remittances \u2014 and its foreign reserves, Colombo faces the risk of defaulting on its external debt for the first time in the country\u2019s borrowing history.<\/p>\n

Mr. Gotabaya\u2019s intention to run for President again makes him the second Rajapaksa eyeing a second term at the country\u2019s most powerful office. His brother and PM Mr. Rajapaksa served two terms, contested for the third time in 2015, and lost.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka\u2019s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday said he would seek a second term in office, shifting from his earlier position to serve only one term. Mr. Gotabaya, in a meeting with owners of local media institutions, spoke of having not just three years of his remaining term, but an additional five …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa states he would seek a second term in office thereby shifting from his earlier position to serve only one Term;”President wanted to tell the people of the country and party workers who is really in charge,\u201d says a senior govt official’ »<\/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\/73678"}],"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=73678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73679,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73678\/revisions\/73679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}