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Mahinda Rajapakse

The Honorable
Mahinda Rajapaksa
MP
Mahinda Rajapaksa.jpg
6th President of Sri Lanka
In office
19 November 2005 – 9 January 2015
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
D. M. Jayaratne
Preceded by Chandrika Kumaratunga
Succeeded by Maithripala Sirisena
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
In office
6 April 2004 – 19 November 2005
President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Preceded by Ranil Wickremesinghe
Succeeded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Leader of the Opposition
In office
6 February 2002 – 2 April 2004
President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe
Preceded by Ratnasiri Wickremanayake
Succeeded by Ranil Wickremesinghe
Chairman of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
In office
19 November 2005 – 15 January 2015
Preceded by Chandrika Kumaratunga
Succeeded by Maithripala Sirisena
Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development
In office
1997–2001
President Chandrika Kumaratunga
Minister of Finance
In office
23 November 2005 – 9 January 2015
President Himself
Preceded by Sarath Amunugama
Succeeded by Ravi Karunanayake
Minister of Labour
In office
1994–1997
President Chandrika Kumaratunga
11th Chairperson-in-office of the Commonwealth of Nations
In office
15 November 2013 – 9 January 2015
Preceded by Tony Abbott
Succeeded by Maithripala Sirisena
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Kurunegala District
Assumed office
17 August 2015
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Hambantota District
In office
15 February 1989 – 19 November 2005
Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament
for Beliatta
In office
27 May 1970 – 21 July 1977
Preceded by D.P. Atapattu
Succeeded by Ranjit Atapattu
Personal details
Born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa
(1945-11-18) 18 November 1945 (age 71)
Weerakatiya, Southern Province, British Ceylon
(now Sri Lanka)
Nationality Sri Lankan
Political party Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Other political
affiliations
United People's Freedom Alliance
(2004 – Present)
People's Alliance
(1994 – 2004)
Spouse(s) Shiranthi Rajapaksa
(née Wickremesinghe)
Children Namal
Yoshitha
Rohitha
Alma mater Richmond College
Nalanda College Colombo
Thurstan College
Sri Lanka Law College
Profession Politician, Lawyer
Religion Theravada Buddhism
Website Official website

Percy Mahendra "Mahinda" Rajapaksa, MP (Sinhalese: මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ (පර්සි මහේන්ද්‍ර රාජපක්ෂ), pronounced [maˈhində ˈraːɟəˌpakʂə], Tamil: மகிந்த ராசபக்ச; born 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 19 November 2005 to 9 January 2015. A lawyer by profession, Rajapaksa was first elected to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 1970, and he served as Prime Minister from 6 April 2004 until his victory in the 2005 presidential election. He was sworn in for his first six-year term as President on 19 November 2005. He was re-elected for a second term on 27 January 2010. He was defeated in his bid for a third term in the 2015 presidential election by Maithripala Sirisena and left office on 9 January 2015.

Several months after leaving office, Rajapaksa unsuccessfully sought to become Prime Minister in the 2015 parliamentary election, where the United People's Freedom Alliance was defeated. He however, was elected as Member of Parliament for Kurunegala District.

Mahinda Rajapaksa was born in Weeraketiya in the southern rural district of Hambantota. He hails from a well known political family in 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. D. M. Rajapaksa, his uncle, was a State Councillor for Hambantota in the 1930s who started wearing the earthy brown shawl to represent kurakkan (finger millet) cultivated by the people of his area, whose cause he championed throughout his life. It is from his example that Rajapaksa wears his characteristic shawl.


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