Mass protests forced the president to announce he will resign. But the years of his family’s corruption and incompetence have taken their toll
For years, long before his election to Sri Lanka’s presidency, Gotabaya Rajapaksa inspired fear. His own family nicknamed him “the terminator”, but his reputation for ruthlessness extended beyond politics. As defence secretary during his brother Mahinda’s presidency, from 2005 to 2015, he oversaw the defeat of the Tamil Tigers; an estimated 40,000 Tamils died and there were numerous documented cases of unlawful killings and forced disappearances. Human Rights Watch alleges that he is implicated in war crimes. As president, he oversaw a sharp deterioration in human rights.
Now the jubilant scenes of protesters plunging into his swimming pool and rifling through drawers of underwear as they stormed the presidential palace last weekend have shown that anger has driven out the fear. The Rajapaksa family ruled for too long, and primarily, in the eyes of many Sri Lankans, for themselves. (Basil Rajapaksa, another brother, resigned as finance minister in April.) The president has promised to quit on Wednesday. Even an attempt to leave the country first – which would mean he is outside its borders when he loses presidential immunity – was foiled when immigration officers blocked him at the airport. The military has shown little interest in defending him.
