Sri Lanka’s former strongman sets stage for comeback attempt
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A year after losing Sri Lanka’s presidency in a stunning electoral upset, strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa is making unusual political moves to regain power in the South Asian island nation — through a newly launched political party in which he has no actual stake.
Not yet, anyway.
Rajapaksa has yet to leave his old party, now led by the former ally who ousted him at the polls, but it’s clear he is quietly in control of the new Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, which translates as the Sri Lanka People’s Front.