Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa (; ; born 20 June 1949) is a Sri Lankan former politician and retired military officer who served as the eighth president of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022. Before his presidency, he served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 during the regime of his brother, president Mahinda Rajapaksa, playing a central role in the final phase of the Sri Lankan civil war.
Born to a political family from the Southern Province, Rajapaksa was educated at Ananda College, Colombo and joined the Ceylon Army in April 1971. Following basic training at the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa, he was commissioned as signals officer and later transferred to several infantry regiments. He saw active service in the early stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War with the elite Gajaba Regiment, taking part in several major offensives such as the Vadamarachi Operation, Operation Strike Hard and Operation Thrividha Balaya, as well as counterinsurgency operations during the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. As Defence Secretary, he oversaw the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. He was a target of an assassination attempt in December 2006 by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.
After stepping down in 2015 following his brother's electoral defeat, Rajapaksa returned to politics and ran for presidency in 2019 as a candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. Campaigning on a nationalistic and security-heavy platform, he became the first Sri Lankan president with a military background and no prior elected office experience.
During his presidency, Sri Lanka faced the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently experienced a severe economic crisis, including shortages of essential goods, high inflation and difficulties servicing its external debt. In April 2022, the government announced that Sri Lanka would suspend payments on its external debt, and the country subsequently defaulted. The economic crisis contributed to widespread protests, known as the Aragalaya, which called for the resignation of the president and government. The government's response included declarations of a state of emergency, curfews and the deployment of security forces. Human rights organizations and other observers reported cases of excessive use of force, arrests of protesters and restrictions on freedom of expression during the protests. The protests ultimately led to Rajapaksa's resignation in July 2022, making him the first Sri Lankan president to resign before completing his term.
Early life and education Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born in Palatuwa in the Matara District, as the fifth of nine siblings, and was brought up in Weeraketiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota. He hails from a well-known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament, Deputy Speaker and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. His elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected to parliament as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the age of 24 in 1970, who gradually rose through the party ranks becoming the Leader of the Opposition in 2001, Prime Minister in 2004 and the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. Two of his other brothers, Chamal Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa, are also current Members of Parliament. He obtained his primary and secondary education at Ananda College, Colombo.
Military career (1971–1991) Early career
Rajapaksa joined the Sri Lankan Army as a cadet officer on 26 April 1971, when Sri Lanka was still a dominion of the British Commonwealth and was in the midst of the 1971 JVP insurrection. Following his basic officer training at the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa in its 4th intake, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 26 May 1972, in the Sri Lanka Signals Corps. Soon after he was sent for the signal young officers course at the Military College of Signals, Rawalpindi. On his return, he was assigned as the signals officer to the Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration, based at its headquarters in Palaly, under the command of Colonel Tissa Weeratunga. In April 1974, he was promoted to Lieutenant and in October he transferred to the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment as an infantry officer. In April 1975, he attended the infantry young officers course at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Queta. Returning in June, he was assigned as the battalion intelligence officer at the Echelon Barracks in Colombo and was promoted to captain in April 1977. Following the change of government in the 1977 general election, he was transferred to the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa as an officer instructor in August 1977. In January 1978, he was appointed Grade III Staff Officer of A branch, handling administration of the Diyatalawa Garrison. During this time he attended the senior staff and tactics course at the Panagoda Cantonment and took part in preparing a report on encroachment of state lands in the north and eastern provinces for the Defense Ministry. Thereafter in 1980, he joined the newly formed Rajarata Rifles as its adjutant under its first commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel V. K. Nanayakkara. Rajapaksa played a major role in establishing the regimental headquarters of the newly formed regiment at Saliyapura. That year he attended the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School, Assam and in 1982 he was selected to attended the Command and Staff course at Defence Services Staff College in Wellington in India, gaining the psc qualification and a Master of Science in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras.Who are the Real Traitors ? . www.defence.lk (30 December 2008). Retrieved on 9 July 2012.
Gajaba Regiment While Rajapaksa was at staff college in India, the Rajarata Rifles were amalgamated with the Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment and the Gajaba Regiment was formed. Having been transferred to the Gajaba Regiment, on his return to the island, he was appointed second-in-command of the 1st Battalion, Gajaba Regiment (1GR) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Vijaya Wimalaratne, instead of the traditional staff appointment that followed the returning officer from staff college. Following retraining, the 1st Battalion was deployed to the Jaffna peninsula between 1983 and 1984 and again 1985 with the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War. During this time he commanded detachments of his battalion based in Jaffna and at Elephant Pass. In 1985 he led an ad hoc unit made up of new recruits that successfully ambushed a LTTE raiding party, for which he was awarded commendation from the President J.R. Jayewardene in the first combat award ceremony. He took part in Operation Liberation commanding the 1GR, the offensive mounted to liberate Vadamarachi from LTTE in 1987. In July 1987, the 1GR was transferred to Colombo and Rajapaksa assisted Colonel Wimalaratne in securing Colombo with the outset of the second JVP insurrection until his battalion was transferred to Trincomalee in October 1987. In December 1987, Rajapaksa appointed a Grade II Staff Officer at Army Headquarters in the training branch under Colonel C. H. Fernando, Director of Training. In 1988, he attended the advanced infantry officers course at the United States Army Infantry School, Fort Benning. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel while in course and returned to his staff appointment at Army Headquarters in January 1989. In July 1989, he was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, Gajaba Regiment. Soon after the 1GR was moved to Matale and Rajapaksa was appointment as the military coordinating officer of the Matale District at the height of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection undertaking counter insurgency operations in the district and remained in that capacity until end of the insurrection in December 1989. During 1990, he commanded 1GR in Weli Oya, serving as the military coordinating officer for the Weli Oya sector under the command of Brigadier Janaka Perera and with 1 GR took part in the Operation "Strike Hard" and Operation Thrividha Balaya in Jaffna under the command of Major General Denzil Kobbekaduwa. In January 1991, he was appointed Deputy Commandant of the Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy and held the position until his early retirement from the army on 1 November 1991.
Immigration to the United States Following his return to civilian life, Rajapaksa read for a postgraduate diploma in information technology from the University of ColomboA legend of our times – Opinion, . Defence.lk. Retrieved on 9 July 2012. and joined Informatics, an IT firm based in Colombo as a Marketing Manager in 1992. He subsequently migrated to the United States in 1998 and worked at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, U.S., as a Systems Integrator and Unix Solaris Administrator.. Retrieved on 9 July 2012.
Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development (2005–2015) In order to assist his brother's presidential election campaign, Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka from the United States in 2005. He re obtained citizenship of Sri Lanka but kept his US citizenship. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was appointed to the post of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence in November 2005 by newly elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In this capacity, he oversaw the military operation which eventually defeated the LTTE in May 2009.
With his position, Rajapaksa also pursued projects like the Colombo Beautification Project, which revitalised public centers and parks in Colombo, as well as many other development projects focused on places such as Battaramulla Diyatha Uyana, Ape Gama Park, Wetland Park, Nugegoda, Arcade Independence Square, Weras Ganga Park and Defence Headquarters Complex. In 2011, the Ministry of Defense was renamed to the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development, having absorbed responsibilities related to urban development. Results of his work were remarkable as Colombo became to the top of the list of fast developing cities in the world in 2015 by an annual travel study by MasterCard.
Assassination attempt On 1 December 2006, at approximately 10:35 an assassin attempted to drive an explosive-laden auto-rikshaw into Rajapaksa's motorcade as it traveled through Kollupitiya, Colombo. The Sri Lanka Army Commandos guarding him obstructed the vehicle carrying the explosives before it reached Rajapakse's vehicle and two commandos were instantly killed. Rajapaksa escaped unhurt. The LTTE were blamed for the attack.
Karuna defection Gotabaya is credited with using the Karuna faction effectively during the war to defeat the LTTE. The LTTE commander Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, better known as Colonel Karuna, told British authorities that Rajapaksa was instrumental in arranging for him to be issued with a false diplomatic passport so that he could flee to Britain in September 2007. These allegations were denied by the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at the time, and later by Rajapaksa.
Criticism of the United Nations and western countries
In June 2007, Rajapaksa was severely critical of the United Nations (UN) and of western governments. He accused the UN of having been infiltrated by terrorists "for 30 years or so", and as a result the UN was fed incorrect information. He also alleged that Britain and the EU were bullying Sri Lanka, and concluded that Sri Lanka "does not need them", and that they don't provide any significant amount of aid to the country.
Legal dispute with Lasantha Wickrematunge In August 2007, journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge published an exposé on a military contract involving the purchase of the Mikoyan MiG-27 Ukrainian Fighter Aircraft. On 18 October 2007, attorney-at-law Ali Sabry and lawyers representing Rajapaksa wrote to Wickrematunge threatening to sue him for defamation for Rs. 2 billion (€14 million) in damages.