Gotabaya Rajapaksa

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Rajapaksa brothers to get strong support in Sri Lanka polls

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

Sri Lankan auto rickshaw driver Prasad Dinesh, linked by Sri Lankan officials to nearly half the country's more than 2,600 coronavirus cases, sits in his house in Ja-Ela, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. For months he’s been anonymous, but now Dinesh is trying to clear his name and shed some of the stigma of a heroin addiction at the root of his ordeal. Referring to him only as “Patient 206,” government officials lambasted Dinesh on TV and social media, blaming him for at least three clusters of cases, including about 900 navy sailors who were infected after an operation in Ja-Ela, a small town about 19 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital, Colombo. Dinesh, however, says his drug addiction, which is considered a crime in Sri Lanka, makes him a convenient scapegoat. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Man blamed for nearly half Sri Lanka virus cases speaks out

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI and EMILY SCHMALL - Associated Press

Members of Sri Lankan cricket team attend their first training session after more than two months of restrictions to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court won’t annul Parliament dissolution

Associated Press

Sri Lankan traditional dancers perform during an event to mark the anniversary of country's independence from British colonial rule in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka scraps Tamil national anthem at Independence Day

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

In this Friday, Nov. 15, 2013, file photo, a Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil woman cries holding a portrait of her missing son during a protest in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's president has decided that tens of thousands of people still missing from the country's quarter-century civil war will be formally declared dead and death certificates will be issued, his office said Monday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka to treat war-missing as dead, issue certificates

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

Sri Lanka’s top police sleuth suspended over phone calls

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves after addressing the parliament during the ceremonial inauguration of the session, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka president urges limit on minority political power

Associated Press

FILE- In this Dec. 23, 2019, file photo, former Cabinet minister Rajitha Senaratne participates in a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A Sri Lankan court granted bail Monday to the former Cabinet minister who was arrested for participating in a news conference about abductions of critics under the government of the current president's brother. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lanka ex-minister arrested for news conference gets bail

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press

In this Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, photo, Yatawatte Dhammananda, a monk and Bodu Bala Sena organizer, stands for a photograph outside a Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. In Myanmar, like Sri Lanka, there is a view among nationalists that Muslims are an existential threat to their faith and way of life, despite Buddhists being the overwhelming majority. “They have the intention of making this a Muslim country. They are working toward that, but we can’t let that happen,” said Yatawatte. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Buddhist nationalists claim victory in Sri Lankan election

By EMILY SCHMALL - Associated Press

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo, former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, left, and former Defense Secretary and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa wave to supporters during a party convention held to announce the presidential candidacy in Colombo, Sri Lanka. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sworn in his brother and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister on Thursday, Nov. 21, in his first step in forming a government since being elected president. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa sworn in Sri Lanka’s new PM

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

FILE- In this Oct. 30, 2019 file photo, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe attends a meeting with media representatives and civil society members at his office in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe plans to step down, clearing the way for Parliament to choose a new prime minister to work with newly elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lankan PM to step down, clearing way for new president

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

FILE- In this Nov. 13, 2019, file photo, Sri Lanka's former defense secretary and presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa attends a rally in Homagama, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa is credited with helping end the country’s long civil war and is revered as a hero by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority. He comfortably won Saturday’s presidential election with about 52% of the ballots. But minorities largely voted for his opponent, fearing Rajapaksa because of allegations of wartime human rights violations against him. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lanka’s new president may struggle to form government

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

Sri Lanka's President-elect Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves to supporters as he leaves the election commission after the announcement of his victory in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, Nov.17, 2019. Rajapaksa, revered by Sri Lanka's ethnic majority for his role in ending a bloody civil war but feared by minorities for his brutal approach, declared victory Sunday in the nation's presidential election. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Gotabaya Rajapaksa sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new president

By Krishan Francis - Associated Press

Sri Lanka's former Defense Secretary and presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, center, leaves a polling station after casting his vote in Embuldeniya, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019. Polls opened in Sri Lanka’s presidential election Saturday after weeks of campaigning that largely focused on national security and religious extremism in the backdrop of the deadly Islamic State-inspired suicide bomb attacks on Easter Sunday. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Former Sri Lankan defense chief wins presidential vote

By EMILY SCHMALL and KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, file photo, Sri Lanka's former defense secretary and presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa attends a rally in Homagama, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka. With a record 35 candidates vying for the presidency, Rajapaksa, a former defense official under his brother, ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was widely expected to triumph over ruling party Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa. But as the election approaches, the race has become very close. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lankans seek security in post-Easter attack election

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press

Sri Lanka Ethnic Divisions Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

No matter who wins the presidential election in Sri Lanka, minorities will lose again

By Taylor Dibbert

Sri Lankan presidential candidate and former defense chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa waves to his supporters during a rally in Neluwa village in Galle, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. Rajapaksa is the front-runner in Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Lawsuit vs Sri Lankan presidential favorite dismissed in US

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press

Sri Lanka's elections chief Mahinda Deshapriya gestures during a press conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019. Deshapriya says he has asked for an explanation from the defense ministry on why the army commander features in an advertisement promoting a candidate for next month's presidential election. The advertisement, which appeared in a newspaper last weekend, had comments made by Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, the current army chief, in 2009 praising presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in ending the country's long civil war. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka’s army chief in controversy over election ad

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press

Presidential candidate of Sri Lanka's governing party Sajith Premadasa gestures during his maiden election campaign rally in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. Premadasa says he will put a former army chief in charge of national security if he wins, an apparent move to counter former defense chief and front-runner Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose campaign centers on security following last Easter's deadly suicide bomb attacks.(AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Sri Lanka governing party candidate stresses security

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI - Associated Press

FILE - In this May 7, 2019, file photo, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena smiles during an interview with the Associated Press at his residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sirisena has opted not to seek a second term, as officials began accepting nominations Monday for next month’s election. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

Sri Lanka’s Sirisena exits, with reform promises unfulfilled

By KRISHAN FRANCIS - Associated Press