Namal Rajapaksa officially named SLPP Presidential candidate

A formal announcement, expected shortly after the SLPP’s high-level meeting on Wednesday morning, comes at a crucial time as the party and country are still grappling with the impacts of economic crisis and chaos.

The September 21 presidential election in Sri Lanka, the first since the 2022 people's uprising that ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, promises to be a fiercely contested four-way race. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe will face off against Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

The decision to field Namal Rajapaksa, 38, emerged after MP Dhammika Perera, the SLPP candidate, informed the party he would not contest the 2024 Presidential Election due to personal reasons. Namal volunteered to contest, and the party backed the idea at a meeting on Tuesday night, a top SLPP source said. “A high-level party meeting would formally announce the decision on Wednesday,”

Namal, the national organiser of the SLPP, will be the youngest candidate in this presidential poll. A senior SLPP leader said many believed the Mahinda family should step away from the contest due to the ongoing chaos in the country. “This election will not be easy for anyone. Even as there are challenges and nobody is going to get 50 per cent vote share, Namal has been working hard in the past few years, especially focusing on the Northern region,” the leader said.