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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sri_lion" data-source="post: 4409970" data-attributes="member: 4103">Now lets educate our viewers... who is Mahinda Rajapaksha? <img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/happy.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Happy    :)" data-shortname=":)" />Disclaimer: This article has been copied from Wikipedia and not guaranteed to be 100% true, it is not be used in any form of academic research! Mahinda Rajapaksa (IPA: [maˈhində ˈraːɟəˌpakʂə], Sinhala:මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, full name Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; born November 18, 1945) is the 5th and current executive President of Sri Lanka. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and served as prime minister from April 6, 2004 until his victory in the 2005 Presidential election. He was sworn in for a six-year term as president on November 19, 2005.Contents[hide]    * 1 Early life          o 1.1 In Opposition    * 2 Appointment as Minister          o 2.1 Leader of the Opposition    * 3 Premiership    * 4 Presidency (November 2005 - Present)    * 5 Political Position    * 6 Controversies          o 6.1 Helping Hambantota case          o 6.2 Media Freedom    * 7 Family    * 8 References    * 9 See also    * 10 External linksEarly lifeRajapaksa was born in Weerakatiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota.[1] He hails from a well known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator[citation needed], Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. D.M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Counselor 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.[1]Rajapaksa was educated at Richmond College, Galle before moving to Nalanda College, Colombo and later Thurstan College, Colombo.[1] He also had a few cameo roles as a movie actor in Sinhalese movies and worked as a library assistant at Vidyodaya University.[2]Following the death of his father in 1967, Rajapaksa took over as the SLFP candidate for Beliatte constituency and was elected to Parliament in 1970 as the youngest Member of Parliament at the age of 24.[2] Later he studied law at the Sri Lanka Law College and took oaths as an attorney-at-law in November 1977.[3] Throughout his parliamentary career, except for the period from 1994-2001 when he was a minister, he continued his law practice in Tangalle.[1]He lost his parliamentary seat in the landslide defeat of the SLFP in 1977.[1] During the 1985 by-election campaign in the Mulkirigala electorate in Hambantota district, for which his brother Chamal Rajapaksa contested representing the SLFP, durring this time Mahinda was remanded for allegations of possession of unauthorized fire arms, but he was cleared of charges due to lack of evidence.In OppositionIn 1989 he was re-elected to Parliament to represent Hambantota District under Proportional Representation. He came into prominence as a leader, together with Manorani Saravanamuttu, of the Mothers Front, which organised the mothers of the "disappeared" in the white terror of 1988-90 instigated by a rebel group that called themselves Deshapremi Jathika Vyaparaya or 'Patriotic National Movement'.[1]Appointment as MinisterIn 1994, following the election victory of the People's Alliance a political front led by Sri Lanka Freedom Party and headed by Chandrika Kumaratunga, Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Labour. He held this post until 1997 when, following a cabinet reshuffle, his portfolio was changed to Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.[1]Leader of the OppositionWhen the United National Party (UNP) defeated the People's Alliance in the 2001 elections, Rajapaksa lost his position in the Government. He was however appointed as Leader of the Opposition in March 2002.[1]PremiershipAfter the Parliamentary Elections of 2004, in which the United People's Freedom Alliance was gained a slim majority in parliament. Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s 13th Prime Minister on April 6, 2004.[1] While Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister, he also held the Ministry of Highways.Presidency (November 2005 - Present)Rajapaksa was chosen by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party for the Presidential Election held on November 17, 2005. Rajapaksa prime opponent was former Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the United National Party in this election. Rajapaksa defeated Wickremasinghe narrowly by 190,000 votes and took office as President on November 19, 2005. Also, in the north-east, the LTTE called for a boycott of the polls from Tamil voters in areas under their control, and forcibly prevented a large section of voters from visiting the polling booths.[4] Rajapaksa received 50.3% of the vote.After becoming President of Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa reshuffled the cabinet and took the portfolios of Defence and Finance in the new cabinet, which was sworn on November 23, 2005.Political PositionAlthough styling himself as a man of peace and a willing negotiator, Rajapakse signalled his intention to end the peace process once in power by forging an alliance with the Sinhalese nationalist JVP and the JHU. The JVP had opposed the original 2002 peace process as treasonous. The agreement made with Rajapakse included provisions which called for a revision of the ceasefire agreement to give the military broader powers against the LTTE, as well as ruling out of any devolution of power to the Tamil people. Furthermore, the cessation of aid to the Tsunami struck LTTE occupied areas, and the sidelining of the Norwegian facilitators due to their alleged bias were included. It was understood that these measures would effectively put an end to peace hopes.[1][2]Immediately following his election victory, a series of mine blasts blamed on the LTTE in the country claimed the lives of many off-duty servicemen and civilians, pushing the country back to the brink of war.[5] Following the closure by the LTTE of a reservoir supplying water to 15,000 people named "Mavil Aru" in government controlled areas on July 21, 2006,[6] the Sri Lankan military launched an offensive against the LTTE, bringing the entire reservoir under government control. Further military engagements have led to the LTTE been driven out of the entire Eastern Province of Sri Lanka and lost 95% of the territory they controlled.[7][8][9][10]ControversiesHelping Hambantota caseMahinda Rajapaksa has been accused of corruption by the opposition before his election as President, citing the "Helping Hambantota" case, where he was accused of appropriating close to USD 830,000 into a Treasury approved private fund, known as Helping Hambantota, to help the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami in Hambantota - his hometown and electoral district. Before the election, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka put a hold on the case. Later dismissing the case, Chief Justice Sarath Silva said the court case had been brought as soon as Rajapaksa was nominated as a presidential candidate. "The court sees this as an attempt to get political mileage for [UNP leader] Ranil Wickramasinghe and to discredit Mahinda Rajapaksa." It was told in parliament that the cabinet was aware of the existence of the Helping Hambantota fund. His office said he had held donations in Helping Hambantota fund to speed up the rate at which aid money was being handed out to victims of the 26 December, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The money in question had been put in a state account and Rajapaksa had not taken "even a cent" for his use, then Prime Minister's secretary Lalith Weeratunga told the AFP news agency at the time.[11]</blockquote>

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