Basil Rajapaksa (born 27 April 1951) is a Sri Lankan-American politician. He is a former

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and Member of Parliament for the national list. 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 Mahinda Rajapaksa (; ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the sixth President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the ...

and in 2007 he was appointed as a member of parliament from the national list. He was the Cabinet minister for Economic Development 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. He entered the parliament again from the national list and was appointed the Finance Minister during which he was accused of extreme negligence and mismanagement resulting in the worsening of the Sri Lankan economic crisis and was ultimately forced to resign under increasing protests by general public in the

2022 Sri Lankan political crisis The 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis was a political crisis in Sri Lanka due to the power struggle between President of Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the people of Sri Lanka. It was fueled by the 2022 Sri Lankan protests, anti-gov ...

. He resigned his seat in parliament on 9 June 2022.

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 A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

of Agriculture and Land in

Wijeyananda Dahanayake 'Wijeyananda Dahanayake'' ( ; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Prime Minister of Ceylon from September 1959 to March 1960. Born as one of the twin children to a conservative family in Galle, Don Wijeyana ...

's government. He is a younger brother of the former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, (; ; born 20 June 1949) was a Sri Lankan politician and military officer who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his Resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resignation on 14 July 202 ...

, who was the secretary for the defence ministry in the Mahinda Rajapaksa's government. 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 The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP; ; ) is a centre-left political party in Sri Lanka. Founded by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1951, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties from the 1950s to the 2010s, serving as the main rival of the c ...

but was defeated. 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 The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

, 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 Dissanayake Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, PC (known as Gamini Dissanayake; ,; 20 March 1942 – 24 October 1994) was a prominent Sri Lankan politician, a powerful minister of the United National Party, and Leader of the Op ...

. 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 and was appointed Finance Minister. During his time as minister Sri Lanka had entered an

economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

but Rajapaksa began avoiding parliament sessions for months. The Opposition complained that pressing economic matters could not be discussed due to his absence. Other government MPs were also critical of his behaviour with Udaya Gammanpila, the energy minister claiming that Basil Rajapaksa refused to accept that an economic crisis was growing and that he knew nothing about his subject. Rajapakasa finally attended parliament on 5 April after an absence of four months and after being forced to resign after a series of protests against the government. In 2022, following the nationwide protests, Sri Lanka's ruling Rajapakasa family attempted to flee the country. On 11 July, Rajapakasa's attempt to leave through the VIP terminal at Colombo International Airport failed after a standoff with airport immigration staff, who refused to board him. He would later successfully leave the country to the United States. On 22 November he returned to Sri Lanka and despite not being an MP or holding any government position he was allowed to use the VIP lounge of Colombo Airport and was given a police escort. In addition he used the Gold Route Service at the BIA which costs over US$200 per person when the VIP service is used and over a hundred SLPP members were seen eating food from the lounge waiting for Basil Rajapaksa to arrive.

Personal life

He is married to Pushpa Rajapaksa and has three children.

Corruption allegations

Rajapaksa is accused of many corruption scandals, and he is under investigation for corruption and abuse of state assets. He gained a reputation as "Mr. Ten Percent" due to the allegations of taking commissions from government contracts. In 2016, the court ordered authorities to auction a luxury villa and of land in Malwana, which is allegedly owned by Rajapaksa. The house and land have not been auctioned and a court case is still ongoing in respect to this allegation. 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. 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." He has misused funds in a construction project while he was the Minister of Economic Development under his brother's government. On 14 November 2023, following a case filed by filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and other four activists, the

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Sri Lanka and the final judicial instance of record. Established in 1801 and empowered to exercise its powers subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Sri Lanka ...

found Rajapaksa, his brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya and several other officials guilty of economic mismanagement between 2019 and 2022, and ordered them to pay about $450 (150,000 rupees) in legal costs to the petitioners.

References

External links

Business Today: Basil Rajapaksa The Force Unseen

Parliament profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajapaksa, Basil 1952 births Alumni of Ananda College Alumni of Isipathana College Cabinet ministers of Sri Lanka Living people Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka

Basil Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a hardiness (plants), tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" r ...

Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees