How a lawyer from Medamulana reshaped Sri Lanka through war, infrastructure, and constitutional control

Wars & Conflicts · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Mahinda Rajapaksa dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, rising from a backbench MP to a powerful president. His tenure was defined by the decisive end of a long civil war, ambitious infrastructure projects, and a controversial consolidation of executive authority that ultimately faced a dramatic public collapse.

Born in 1945, Mahinda Rajapaksa began his career as a lawyer and was first elected to parliament in 1970. He ascended to the presidency in 2005, a period marked by his government's military victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009. This success, which ended decades of conflict, initially bolstered his popularity. However, the final stages of the war drew intense international scrutiny. A United Nations panel of experts later estimated that the death toll during the conflict's closing weeks reached 40,000, with reports from journalists and international observers alleging targeted shelling and extrajudicial killings. Rajapaksa and his administration have consistently denied these accusations.

Following the war, Rajapaksa pursued massive infrastructure development, including ports, airports, and towers. While these projects helped elevate Sri Lanka into the high category of the Human Development Index, they were funded by substantial foreign loans, particularly from China. Critics and subsequent forensic audits suggested these initiatives were marred by corruption and inflated economic growth figures. By 2022, the resulting debt burden contributed to a severe economic crisis, leading to the country's first-ever default on its loans since independence. This economic collapse triggered widespread protests, during which demonstrators demanded his resignation.

Rajapaksa’s political longevity was reinforced by significant constitutional changes. In 2010, he successfully pushed for an amendment that removed presidential term limits and reduced independent oversight of his appointments. He also exerted influence over the judiciary, notably removing the chief justice in 2013. Despite these efforts to cement his control, his political fortunes fluctuated. He was defeated in the 2015 presidential election, returned to power as prime minister in 2019 under his brother’s presidency, and eventually resigned in May 2022 following violent clashes between his supporters and anti-government protesters. Today, his legacy remains a subject of intense debate, ranging from his role in ending the civil war to the allegations of human rights violations and economic mismanagement that defined his later years in office.

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