Basil Rajapaksa

Basil Rohana Rajapaksa (born 27 April 1951) is a Sri Lankan-American politician. He is a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for national list and former Minister of Finance.

Hon.
Basil Rajapaksa
MP
බැසිල් රාජපක්ෂ
பசில் ராஜபக்ச
Minister of Finance
In office
8 July 2021 – 3 April 2022
PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterMahinda Rajapaksa
Preceded byMahinda Rajapaksa
Succeeded byAli Sabry
Member of Parliament
for National List
Assumed office
8 July 2021
Preceded byJayantha Ketagoda
In office
19 September 2007 – 9 February 2010
Preceded byMohamed Ismail Anwar Ismail
Member of Parliament
for Gampaha District
In office
22 April 2010 – 26 June 2015
Majority425,861 Preferential Votes
Minister of Economic Development
In office
22 April 2010 – 9 January 2015
PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa
Prime MinisterD. M. Jayaratne
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byRanil Wickremesinghe
Personal details
Born
Basil Rohana Rajapaksa

(1951-04-27) 27 April 1951
Sri Lanka
CitizenshipSri Lankan
American[1]
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partySri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
Spouse(s)Pushpa Rajapaksa
ChildrenThejani, Bimalka and Ashantha
Alma materIsipathana College
Ananda College
Websitebasilrajapaksa.com

He was also a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament from 2007 to 2015. During the period of 2005–2010 he served as a presidential senior advisor for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and in 2007 he was appointed as a member of parliament from the national list. He was the Cabinet minister for Economic Development[2] in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's second term (2010–2015). In the 2010 parliamentary election, he was elected from Gampaha district by receiving the highest number of preferential votes in Sri Lanka.

Family

He hails from a well-known political family in the southern part of Sri Lanka. His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. He is a younger brother of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was a powerful defense secretary in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government and as of 2019 incumbent President of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, his older brother Chamal served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka (2010-2015).

He had his secondary education at Isipathana College and Ananda College, both located in Colombo.

Political career

At the 1977 General Elections, he contested Mulkirigala Electorate from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party but was defeated.[3] He was the youngest SLFP candidate that contested in this election. In the 1977 election, only 8 members managed to win from the SLFP. Basil Rajapaksa later worked with the first executive President J.R. Jayewardene and joined the United National Party,[4] He made this decision to join the UNP due to some infighting within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. Although he was with JR Jayawardana, he openly supported his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. While he was in UNP he became very close to the minister Gamini Dissanayake. When SLFP and coalition parties won the 1994 he actively assisted Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In 1997 his wife won the US green card lottery and migrated to the USA with his family. He frequently visited Sri Lanka, especially whenever there were elections.

During the 2005 Presidential election campaign, he actively worked for his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's victory and became an advisor for the President. In 2007 he was appointed as a national list member for the Sri Lankan parliament. When the 2010 parliamentary election was announced Basil contested the Gampaha district. As the district leader, he gained over 400,000 votes and became a member of the Parliament who obtained the highest number of preferential votes from the district.

In 2021 Basil Rajapaksa returned to the parliament from the national list[5] and was appointed Finance Minister.[6] During his time as minister Sri Lanka had entered an economic crisis but Rajapaksa began avoiding parliament sessions for months. The Opposition complained that pressing economic matters could not be discussed due to his absence. [7][8] Basil Rajapakasa finally attended parliament on 5 April after an absence of 4 months and after being forced to resign after a series of protests against the government.[9]

Personal life

He is married to Pushpa Rajapaksa and has three children namely, Thejani, Bimalka and Ashantha.[10]

Corruption allegations

Rajapaksa is accused[11] of many corruption scandals, and he is under investigation for corruption and abuse of state assets.[12] He gained a reputation as "Mr. Ten Percent" due to the allegations of taking commissions from government contracts.[13] In 2016, the court ordered authorities to auction a luxury villa and 6.5 ha (16 acres) of land in Malwana, which is allegedly owned by Rajapaksa.[14] The house and land have not been auctioned and a court case is still ongoing in respect to this allegation.[15]

One of the accusations that the current government made was the misappropriation of funds belonging to the Divi Neguma Development Department. Financial Crimes Investigation Department (FCID), a police division that was established to punish the supporters of the previous government, filed charges against Rajapaksa. There are several court cases where some citizens of Sri Lanka have challenged the legality of the FCID.[16][17]

S. B. Dissanayake, the Minister for Social Empowerment and Welfare has stated: "The pipes were purchased according to due tender process, the purchased pipes were duly delivered the pradeshiya sabhas. The pradeshiya sabhas need pipes – for temple functions, funerals, when a minister is visiting – they need pipes for all of this."[18] He has misused funds in a construction project while he was the Minister of Economic Development under his brother's government.[19]

See also

References
  1. "I have not renounced my US citizenship – Basil Rajapaksa". Newsfirst.lk.
  2. "New Cabinet sworn in". Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  3. 1977 Parliamentary Elections Results . Official Website, Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  4. Can Basil rescue Mahinda’s sinking ship?.
  5. "Basil Rajapaksa's name gazetted as National List MP". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  6. "Basil Rajapaksa sworn-in as Finance Minister – Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka". Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  7. Nadeera, Dilshan. "Basil doesn't come to Parliament – Mano Ganeshan". Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  8. Weerasooriya, Sahan. "Basil's silence for three months amidst dire economic situation causes uproar in Parliament for second day". Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  9. "Basil Rajapaksa finally attends Parliament after 4 months - Latest News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  10. "Pushpa Rajapaksa's China funded Sri Lanka NGO now a boutique hotel. | Sri Lanka Brief". Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  11. "බැසිල්ගේ මල්වානේ ඉඩමේ නඩුව මැයි 7 දක්වා කල් යයි".
  12. "Sri Lanka ex-leader's brother Basil Rajapaksa arrested". BBC News. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  13. "Sri Lanka's all-powerful Rajapaksas under fire". France 24. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  14. "Basil Loses His 240 Million Worth Luxury Villa in Malwana". Colombo Telegraph. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  15. "Court stops auction on Basil's alleged land in Malwana - Breaking News | Daily Mirror".
  16. "FCID illegal, therefore whole process not lawful, say counsel | the Sunday Times Sri Lanka".
  17. http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2015/06/21/question-mark-over-fcid/
  18. "SB Defends Basil Over Divi Neguma Case". Colombo Telegraph. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  19. "Sri Lanka ex-leader's brother Basil Rajapaksa arrested". BBC News. 22 April 2015.
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