President Ranil Wickremesinghe gestures as he arrives at the Election Commission in Rajagiriya to submit his nomination papers for the upcoming Presidential election, scheduled for September 21, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on August 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the front runner in the Presidential poll scheduled for next month, was on Friday (August 16, 2024) endorsed by a grand coalition of more than 30 political parties and groups.

This comes after Mr. Wickremesinghe (75) announced himself as the independent candidate on Thursday (August 15, 2024) by handing over nominations to contest the September 21 Presidential election.

Election crucial for Sri Lanka’s future: President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the now decimated grand old party, the United National Party (UNP), is backed by the Rajapaksa family breakaways from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

Mr. Wickremesinghe was elected as the stop-gap President after then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted in a popular uprising following his inability to handle the country’s unprecedented economic crisis that led to a shortage of essential commodities.

The SLPP of the Rajapaksas provided Mr. Wickremesinghe with Parliamentary support to become the President but did not approve of the incumbent President’s hard reforms to revive the bankrupt economy. The SLPP has fielded the heir apparent of the dynasty Namal Rajapaksa (38) against him.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, who initiated a hard reform programme led by the International Monetary Fund, took upon reviving the economy with the support from his SLPP-dominated Cabinet.

Explained | The political career of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

“I’m thankful to those who supported me to handle this difficult task. They did not run away when challenged to perform the responsibilities of the country,” Mr. Wickremesinghe, also the Finance Minister, said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, since being elected, implemented hard economic reforms as necessitated by the IMF to secure a bail-out of nearly $3 billion over four years.

His hard reforms brought in stability although the Opposition said the economic hardships caused by the IMF deal had left the public in the lurch. The Opposition has vowed to renegotiate the IMF programme to provide relief to the public.

Mr. Wickremesinghe’s main rivals are once his deputy Sajith Premadasa and the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

There have been several individuals who changed loyalties to Mr. Wickremesinghe and Premadasa and vice-versa since the election was announced by the island nation’s independent election commission.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on October 23 effected the first reshuffle of his Cabinet, changing the portfolios of two Ministers, amidst criticism from the Opposition that he was planning to postpone elections that are due in the cash-strapped country next year.

Significantly, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella was moved to the Environment Ministry following weeks of public dissatisfaction with his handling of the Ministry.

Mr. Rambukwella, 69, survived a motion of no-confidence in Parliament moved against him by the Opposition to highlight inefficiency, corruption and mismanagement in the Ministry’s conduct.

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Mr. Rambukwella a fortnight back had ordered a police investigation into an Indian company’s alleged supply of a substandard drug. The Indian company had however denied such a supply to a Sri Lankan importer.

The Environment Ministry was held by Mr. Wickremesinghe himself when the incumbent came to be disqualified as a Member of Parliament through a court order.

The Health Ministry has been now put under Ramesh Pathirana, a doctor in addition to being the Minister of Industries.

Mr. Wickremesinghe’s action for a minor reshuffle came as the Opposition mounted criticism that he was planning to postpone the major elections due for next year.

However, Mr. Wickremesinghe stressed on Sunday that both Presidential and Parliamentary elections would be held next year as per the constitutional stipulation.

Ranil Wickremesinghe. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Dismissing the possibility of an international probe into the 2019 Easter terror attacks, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reiterated that such an investigation into the incident was not permissible under the country’s law.

Responding to Sunday’s editorial in the Catholic Church’s Messenger newspaper titled “An international investigation team is needed for an independent, transparent, and thorough investigation and monitoring”, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said, “We cannot endorse the idea of international investigations into Sri Lanka’s internal matters.” “The Constitution of Sri Lanka and all other existing laws do not provide for conducting international investigations. Consequently, carrying out such investigations would be in violation of the law,” a press release by the PMD said on October 6.

Nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring more than 500.

The issue of the Easter attacks and its political undertone resurfaced in early September when the U.K.’s Channel 4 television station aired a documentary titled ‘Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings – Dispatches’, alleging the involvement and complicity of certain government officials, including intelligence service chief Major General Suresh Sallay, in orchestrating the 2019 Easter suicide bombings.

It called the attacks a “crafted act” aimed at forcing a political change in favour of the then-powerful Rajapaksa brothers.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his candidature three days after the attacks and was elected President seven months later. His elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was also the country’s former President and Prime Minister. Both Rajapaksa brothers were forced to resign last year amidst the unprecedented economic crisis in the island nation.

“The Minister of Public Security, Tiran Alles, spoke to the Catholic Bishops Conference on Thursday and was informed that the Rev. Father Harold Anthony was in the process of studying a voluminous presidential commission report on the Easter attack investigation that had been delivered to him in April,” the press release said. It added that Mr. Wickremesinghe would meet the Catholic Bishops conference after they study the report.

During a fiery interview with the German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) against the backdrop of Channel 4’s allegations last week, Mr. Wickremesinghe dismissed the Channel 4 revelations and said that Sri Lanka will not have any international inquiry into the Easter blasts. “It is out,” he said.

“The Sri Lankan government does not have international investigations. Full stop. Few people may want (it), but the Parliament doesn’t,” he said.

A prime panel headed by retired Supreme Court Justice SI Imam was appointed by Mr. Wickremesinghe to investigate the British channel’s allegations. The Opposition, however, blames the President for going back on his earlier pledge to let Scotland Yard investigate the 2019 attacks.

They claim that Mr. Wickremesinghe is reliant on the support of the Rajapaksas to remain the President and, therefore, would not initiate an inquiry which could expose those behind the attacks. The attacks led to a significant political change in Sri Lanka. It has emerged that the then authorities had ignored prior intelligence on the attack by Indian intelligence agencies.