Colombo, April 10 (TIWN) In early 2019, former Sri Lanka, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and United National Party (UNP) brokered government was at logger head. When Wickremesinghe was sacked by the President on October 2019 but had to be reinstated after two months on a Supreme Court order, it was certain that the UNP government would be defeated at the Presidential election end of that year.

All knew that the UNP of Wickremesinghe was not going to make a comeback and it definitely had to be a Rajapaksa. But under the Constitution, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was twice President from 2005, could not contest and the best trump card was Gotabaya, who was never in politics but held the powerful post of Defence Secretary during the war against Tamil rebels.

April 21, 2019

The Easter Sunday coordinated bombing in three churches and three hotels almost at the same time, an experience that Sri Lanka never had despite three decades of war. The Indian ocean's tiny island was in danger and badly needed a 'savior'. Amidst the blood and debris of multiple bombing, within a week Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his candidacy for the Presidential election in November that year and slogan of the election battle was to "save the country from extremists".

In a landslide victory for the first time in Sri Lanka, Gotabaya was elected with a massive 6.9 million almost all Sinhala Buddhist votes. His brother Mahinda was placed the Prime Minister. At the Parliamentary Election that followed in August 2020, the brand new party formed by Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) lead by Mahinda Rajapaksa received a 2/3 majority with 150 seats out of 225. Rajapaksa became the most important name in Sri Lankan politics.

The closely knit family with majority men, were appointed to the important Cabinet portfolios.

Youngest brother in the family Basil Rajapaksa who was given a demigod status by bootleggers claiming him to possess "seven brains", was appointed as the Finance Minister; this was without any paper qualification.