The UNP’s sole member, MP Vajira Abeywardene, expressed gratitude to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the party of the Rajapaksas, for not bowing to international pressure.
“The SLPP only bowed to the people of Sri Lanka during the Aragalaya. It did not bow to the international community. What the SLPP told the world during the Aragalaya was that they had managed to win the war in 2009 and now it will hand over the reins to Ranil Wickremeisnghe who is the only person capable of resolving the economic crisis. We are grateful to the SLPP for this step,” he told the media.
During the 2022 Aragayala protests both the President and Prime Minister, Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajaksa, were forced to resign from their posts due to public outrage over economic mismanagement of the country. Sri Lanka Supreme Court has found the Rajapaksa clan guilty of mismanaging the island’s economy between 2019 and 2022, ordering them to pay just over $458 (150,000 Sri Lankan rupees) as legal costs to the petitioners.
Despite charges of cronyism, and credible accusations of complicity in genocide during the armed conflict, Mahinda Rajapaksa has returned to the political scene as head of SLPP and has vowed to return to power. The former president is currently barred from entering Canada over the mass atrocities, which are increasingly being recognised as a genocide.
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