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Gotabaya Rajapaksa | |
|---|---|
| ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ | |
 Rajapaksa in 2019 | |
| 8th President of Sri Lanka | |
| In office 18 November 2019 – 14 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Ranil Wickremesinghe Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Preceded by | Maithripala Sirisena |
| Succeeded by | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Minister of Defence | |
| In office 28 November 2019 – 14 July 2022 | |
| President | Himself |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Preceded by | Maithripala Sirisena |
| Succeeded by | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Minister of Technology | |
| In office 26 November 2020 – 14 July 2022 | |
| President | Himself |
| Prime Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Preceded by | Susil Premajayantha |
| Succeeded by | Ranil Wickremesinghe |
| Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development | |
| In office 19 November 2005 – 9 January 2015 | |
| President | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Minister | Mahinda Rajapaksa |
| Preceded by | Asoka Jayawardena |
| Succeeded by | B. M. U. D. Basnayake |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa 20 June 1949 Palatuwa, Dominion of Ceylon |
| Citizenship | Sri Lanka (1949–2003, 2005–present)[1][2][3] United States (2003–2019)[4][5] |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna |
| Spouse |
Ayoma Rajapaksa (m. 1980) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Don Alwin Rajapaksa (father) Dandina Samarasinghe née Dissanayake (mother) |
| Relatives | Chamal (brother) Mahinda (brother) Basil (brother) |
| Education | Sri Lanka Military Academy University of Colombo |
| Website | gota.lk |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Sri Lanka |
| Branch/service |  Sri Lanka Army |
| Years of service | 1971–1991 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | Gajaba Regiment |
| Commands | 1st Gajaba Regiment General Sir John Kotelawala Defence Academy |
| Battles/wars | Sri Lankan Civil War 1987–1989 JVP insurrection |
| Awards | |
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, RWP, RSP (Sinhala: නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; Tamil: நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan politician and military officer, who served as the eighth president of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022.[6] He previously served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 under the administration of his elder brother former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during 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.[citation needed] 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 counter-insurgency operations during the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection.
Rajapaksa took early retirement from the army and moved into the field of information technology, before migrating to the United States in 1998. He returned to Sri Lanka in 2005, to assist his brother in his presidential campaign and was appointed Defence Secretary in his brother's administration. During his tenure the Sri Lankan Armed Forces successfully concluded the Sri Lankan Civil War defeating the LTTE and killing its leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009. He was a target of an assassination attempt in December 2006 by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. Following the war, Rajapaksa initiated many urban development projects. He stepped down following the defeat of his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the 2015 presidential election.
Rajapaksa emerged as the SLPP candidate for the 2019 presidential election, in which he successfully contested on a pro-nationalistic, economic development and national security platform. He was the first president of Sri Lanka with military background and also the first elected president who had never held an elected office before.[7] During his presidency, Rajapaksa increased his presidential powers through the 20th Amendment and nepotism rose as members of the Rajapaksa family were appointed to several positions of power, and led the country during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic mismanagement drove the country to bankruptcy, causing Sri Lanka to declare default for the first time since gaining independence in 1948. This economic crisis caused shortages and inflation, leading to the 2022 Sri Lankan protests and political crisis. The Rajapaksa administration responded by declaring a state of emergency, which allowed the military to arrest civilians, imposing curfews, restricting social media, assaulting protesters and journalists, and arresting online activists. Rajapaksa refused to step down, even after protests became violent, until 14 July, when Rajapaksa fled the country via a military aircraft and began a 50-day self-exile,[8][9] and officially emailed his resignation letter from Singapore the next day. Rajapaksa later returned to Sri Lanka, on 2 September.
- ^ "CT finds Gota's true U.S. renunciation certificate". Ceylon Today. 1 August 2019. Archived from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ "Police to probe Gota's citizenship, passports". Daily FT. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 10 August 2019. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "Gota's Lanka citizenship in doubt, candidacy under cloud". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 22 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Singh, Anurangi (29 September 2019). "Gota's citizenship challenged in Court of Appeal". Sunday Observer. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ "People want non-traditional politicians – Gotabhaya Rajapaksa". dailymirror.lk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya has officially stepped down". Sri Lanka News – Newsfirst. 15 July 2022. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lankan President Gotabaya, the first person with military credentials to be elected as President". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "Plane Said to Carry Sri Lanka's President Most-Tracked in World". Bloomberg. 14 July 2022. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
- ^ "Sri Lanka: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country on military jet". BBC. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.