Rajapaksas nominate youngest for president over Wickremesinghe
The race now has four contenders thanks to Namal Rajapaksa's participation; this news comes days after the incumbent SLPP lost almost 100 MPs to Wickremesinghe.
Colombo: The Rajapaksa family's official support for President Ranil Wickremesinghe was ended on Wednesday when 38-year-old Namal Rajapaksa, the heir to the Rajapaksa clan, was announced as the SLPP candidate for president.
Early on Wednesday, at a ceremony held at the party headquarters, Sagara Kariyawasam, the general secretary of the Sri Lanka People's Front (SLPP, often known locally as Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, a popular Sinhala term), declared the younger Rajapaksa's candidacy.
With Namal's entry, the election is now a four-cornered race. In addition, President Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the Marxist JVP, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake are already involved in the conflict.
Mahinda, Basil, and Gotabaya Rajapaksa played a crucial role in Wickremesinghe's victory in the July 2022 parliamentary vote to succeed Gotabaya for the remainder of his term.
Soon after the remarkable events of mid-April 2022, the island nation declared its first sovereign default since separating from Britain in 1948. Civil war-like circumstances ensued as local discontent grew over inflation and other economic hardships that had resulted in Gotabaya's removal.
The development on Wednesday occurs a few days after Wickremesinghe declared his candidacy as an independent, costing the SLPP around 100 MPs.
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