Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka: Time to Move Beyond Complacency

Much water has flown down the Mahaveli since the elimination of V. Prabhakaran and decimation of LTTE, the terror outfit he led, in Sri Lanka in May 2009. President Mahinda Rajapaksa cashed in on the situation well; he called for a new presidential election two years before expiration of his term and won it convincingly in January 2010. His party secured an easy and emphatic victory in the subsequent parliamentary elections, short of a two-thirds majority, in April 2010. He has also brought about key amendments in the Constitution which enable him to seek presidential office for as many terms as possible, and empower him to appoint heads of key institutions in Sri Lanka. He has put his brothers in key positions in the government and is promoting his son as his successor.