A recent press interview with Minister Namal Rajapaksa provides some insights into the thinking of the ruling Rajapaksa family. In answer to a question from The Daily Mirror journalist, Jamila Hussain, on what has come to be known as family bandyism dominating Sri Lankan politics, Namal has claimed that there have been several political dynasties in Sri Lanka, but only the Rajapaksas have been singled out for severe criticism. Citing examples, he has said Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa is the son of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, and the late parents of Mayantha Dissanayake [and his brother Navin]—former minister Gamini Dissanayake and his wife, Srima, who contested the 1994 presidential election from the UNP following the former’s assassination while running for President—were also prominent politicians.
Dynastic politics is not something uncommon in the world, as evident from the Bushes and the Kennedys of the US. How established it is in some countries could be seen from the following graph reproduced form The Conversation:
Namal has left out the Bandaranaike family whose father, mother and younger daughter became heads of state, and son a minister; he may have done so because no member of the Bandaranaike family is currently in the parliament; Minister Prasanna Ranatunga’s family members have also been in the parliament. His late father was a senior minister, and his brothers, Arjuna and Ruwan, are former MPs. Arjuna served as a minister. The Senanayakes—F. R, D. S., Dudley and Rukman—were also a famous political family, the youngest member being Wasantha.
There have been many fathers and sons in Sri Lankan politics—the late Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake and the late Dudley Senanayake; the late Prime Minister S. W. R. Bandaranaike and Anura; the late Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne and Anuradha; incumbent Prime Minsiter and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Namal; Minister and former Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa and Shasheendra; the late Nanda Ellawaala and the late Nalanda: SJB MP and former Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and Chathura; the late Minister and Chief Minister Bertie Premalal Dissanayake and Sate Minister Duminda; the late Minister Alick Aluvihare and Ranjith; the late Mahanama Samaraweera and the late Minister Mangala; the late Minister Richard Pathirana and Ramesh; the late Philip Gunawardena and Dinesh, Geethanjana and Indika; Minister Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and Pramitha; the late Minister Arumugam Thondaman and Jeevan; Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and Yadamini.
There have been a considerable number of fathers and daughters in Sri Lankan politics—the late PM Bandaranaike and Chandrika, the late Deputy Minister Dharmadasa Wanniarachchi and Pavithra, the late MP Indrapala Abeyweera and Sumithra.
Brothers have also dominated this country’s national politics: Yasaratne Tennakoon and Janaka Bandara Bandara Tennakoon, Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Hemakumara Nanayakkara, and Dinesh Gunawardena, India and Githanjana.
We have also had brothers and sisters in national politics: the late Gamini Athukorala and Thalatha—the late Anura Banadranaike, and Chandrika, and husbands and wives—the late Lalith Athulathmudali and Srimani, Chandrika and Vijaya Kumaratunga, the late T. Maheswarana and Vijayakala, the late Minister M. H. Ashroff and Fariel, the late S. Jayasena and Sumedha, and Sanjeewa Kaviratne and Rohini.
(The aforesaid lists however are not exhaustive.)
The composition of the current 225-member parliament reflects the extent to which dynastic politics has got rooted in this country. The members of political dynasties represented in it are as follows:
1. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – son of the late MP D. A. Rajapaksa
2. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa – son of the late MP D. A. Rajapaksa
3. Basil Rajapaksa – son of the late MP D. A. Rajapaksa
4. Chamal Rajapaksa – son of the late MP D. Rajapaksa
5. Namal Rajapaksa – eldest son of Prime Minister Rajapaksa
6. Shasheendra Rajapaksa – Son of Chamal Rajapaksa
7. Nipuna Ranawaka – Nephew of President Rajapaksa
8. Prasanna Ranatunga – Son of former minister Reggie Ranatunga
9. Yadamani Gunawardana – Son of Minister Dinesh Gunawardena
10. Sajith Premadasa – Son of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa
11. Kanchana Wijesekera – Son of former minister Mahinda Wijesekera
12. Janaka Bandara Tennakoon and son Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon
13. Kanaka Herath – Son of former chief minister Maheepala Herath
14. Anuradha Jayaratne – Son of late Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne
15. Dilum Amunugama – Nephew of Dr Sarath Amunugama
16. Vidura Wickremanayake – Son of late Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
17. Lohan Ratwatte – Son of late minister Anuruddha Ratwatte
18. Kavinda Jayawardana – Son of late minister Dr Jayalath Jayawardana
19. Duminda Dissanayake – Son of late chief minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake
20. Dr Ramesh Pathirana – Son of late minister Dr Richard Pathirana
21. Muditha Prishanthi – Wife of the late MP Ranjith Zoysa
22. Isuru Dodangoda – Son of late minister Amarasiri Dodamgoda
23. Chandima Weerakkody – Son of late minister Amarasiri Dodangoda’s sister
24. Kins Nelson – Son of late deputy minister H. J. P. Nelson
25. Akila Ellawala – Son of late chief minister Mohan Saliya Ellawala
26. Pavithra Wanniarachchi – Daughter of former deputy minister Dharmadasa Wanniarachchi
27. Jeewan Thondaman – late minister A. Thondaman’s son
28. Waruna Liyanage – Son of late parliamentarian Heenmahathmaya Liyanage
29. Thalatha Athukorale – Sister of late minister Gamini Athukorale
30. Harshana Rajakaruna – Son of former minister Sarathchandra Rajakaruna
31. Rohini Kavirathna Wijeratne – Wife of the late MP Sanjeewa Kavirathna
32. Tharaka Balasuriya – Son of former minister Dr Jagath Balasuriya and former Governor Kumari
33. D.V. Chanaka – Son of former provincial minister D.V. Upul
34. Gajendrakumar – Son of Kumar Ponnambalam, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress president
35. Anupa Pasquel – Brother of late deputy minister Daya T. Pasquel
36. Gayantha Karunathilaka – Son of late deputy minister Rupa Karunathilake
37. Thenuka Vidanagamage – Brother of former Uva provincial minister Anura Vidanagamage
38. Dushmantha Mithrapala – Son of late deputy minister H. R. Mithrapala
39. Suchith Sanjaya Perera – Son of late minister M. Vincent Perera
40. Priyankara Jayaratne – Son of late minister S. D. R. Jayaratne
41. Arundika Fernando – Nephew of former parliamentarian Godfrey Fernando
42. Niroshan Perera – Son of late minister Festus Perera
43. Abdul Haleem Mohamed – Son-in-law of late foreign minister A.C.S. Hameed
44. Shehan Semasinghe – Son of former deputy minister H.B. Semasinghe
45. J.C. Alawathuwala – Son of former deputy minister S.W. Alawathuwala
46. Manjula Dissanayake – Wife of late minister Salinda Dissanayake
47. Kokila Harshani Gunawardana – Daughter of late provincial Councillor Namal Gunawardana
48. Ranjan Ramanayake – Nephew of the late Vijaya Kumaratunga, leader of the SLMP
49. Sudarshani Fernandopulle – Wife of late minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle
50. Professor Tissa Vitharana – Nephew of the late legendary finance minister, Dr. N.M. Perera
The above list sheds light on how deeply rooted dynastic politics has become in this country over the decades. But Namal’s argument that it is not fair that public attention is only on the Rajapaksa family does not hold water, for the Rajapaksas are different from other political families. There are too many of them in politics at present; they have all the luck and are blocking the paths of other deserving politicians.
Today, the Rajapaksa family holds the following positions—the executive presidency, premiership, and three powerful ministerial portfolios including Finance. About 75% of the country’s budget is said to be under the purview of the Rajapaksas. It is the Rajapaksa family that takes all vital decisions, and others are considered outsiders. This is one of the main reasons for the disgruntlement of many senior politicians in the government. Those who are not willing to play second fiddle to the Rajapaksas indefinitely are revolting, and they include members of the constituents of the SLPP.
Namal does not seem to have read the public mood correctly. In answer to a question on people’s resentment at the government, he has admitted that the popularity of the Rajapaksa family is on the wane, but said in the same breath that it is only a temporary setback, and their approval ratings are bound to increase with the passage of time. The possibility of such an upturn cannot be ruled out, but regaining popularity is an uphill task, given the anti-incumbency factor. The ruling family has become unpopular not only among the people but also the members of the government. Some Cabinet ministers are openly rebelling against some members of the family. No other government has become so unpopular within the first two years of its formation, and the SLPP is now scared of facing an election; it has postponed the Local Government polls by one year, unable to face the people.
The government has adopted some ad hoc measures to ameliorate the people’s hardships and thereby shore up its popularity. It has unveiled a huge relief package amounting to Rs. 229 billion, following some incidents where irate members of the public, waiting in long queues to buy essentials, hooted at some government leaders including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But to fund the relief package the government will have to resort to more money printing, which will aggravate the economic woes of everyone.
Namal has sought to blame all ills of the country on the pandemic, but most of the problems Sri Lankan are facing today are due to the mismanagement of the economy and wrong government policies although the fact remains that Covid-19 has taken its toll on the Sri Lankan economy. Other countries have also been affected by the pandemic, but not all of them are on the brink of bankruptcy. Even Bangladesh, which is a developing country, has extended a loan facility to Sri Lanka! Sri Lankan leaders are going around the world cap in hand, in a desperate bid to prevent the economy from collapsing. The prevailing fertilizer shortage and the resultant yield losses could have been averted if the government had not rushed the implementation of its organic agriculture policy, which would have benefited the country tremendously if carried out over a period of time with teething problems being taken care of along the way.
A prerequisite for solving any problems is to understand it properly. Going by Namal’s answers in the above-mentioned press interview, one gets the impression that the ruling family’s understanding of the current issues is far removed from reality, and is it given to self-deception. This is what too much power does to politicians.
