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Sri Lanka - Head of Government

HE Mr Mahinda Rajapakse, President

HE Mr Mahinda Rajapakse was sworn in as the fifth executive President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka on 19 November 2005. He had previously served as Prime Minister since 6 April 2004 in the government headed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. At the time, Mr Rajapaksa concurrently held the post of Minister of Highways.

Mr Rajapakse was Leader of the Opposition from March 2002 to 2004.

From 1994 to 2001, Mr Rajapaksa served as Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, Minister of Fisheries and Minister of Ports and Shipping.

Mr Rajapakse entered politics in 1970 as a Member of Parliament of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He lost his Parliamentary seat in 1977 during the landslide victory of the United National Party, but was re-elected in the general election in 1989. Mr Rajapakse held this position until his appointment as Sri Lanka’s President in 2005. He was elected SLFP President on 29 June 2006.

Along with his political career, Mr Rajapakse practiced law in the southern town of Tangalle from 1977 to 1994 until his ministerial appointment in 1994. Mr Rajapakse qualified as Attorney-at-Law in 1977 after graduating from the Colombo Law College.

Mr Rajapakse was born on 18 November 1945 in Weeraketiya, Sri Lanka.