Chamal Rajapaksa

Some Lesser Known Facts About Chamal Rajapaksa

• Chamal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician and a retired Sri Lankan police Sub Inspector. He is the elder brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

• After completing his schooling, Chamal Rajapaksa joined the Ceylon police force as a Sub Inspector. While serving in the police force, Chamal was made the bodyguard of Sri Lanka’s first female Prime Minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike. After serving as a police officer for more than eight years, Chamal left the police force in 1972.

• In the same year, he joined State Trading General Corporation (STC) as Assistant General Manager. He worked for the STC till 1985 after which he went back to his family’s farmland in Beliatte to look after the coconut estate.

• Chamal Rajapaksa entered politics when he joined the Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and contested the 1985 by-elections from the Mulkirigala Electorate. In the elections, Chamal was defeated by a margin of 1,300 votes. The by-elections of 1985 were conducted after the by-elections of 1983 were declared null and void after Nirupama Rajapaksa won an election petition against the UNP candidate Ananda Kularatne.

• Chamal Rajapaksa again contested the 1989 Sri Lankan general elections from the Hambantota constituency. In the elections, he emerged victorious. From 1989 to 2022, Chamal remained a member of the Sri Lankan parliament as he emerged victorious in every election that he contested.

  

• Chamal has held several important ministerial-level appointments like Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Deputy Minister of Ports & Southern Development, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries, Minister of Agricultural Development, Minister of Irrigation & Water Management, and Minister of Ports & Aviation. While Chamal was serving as the Minister of Irrigation & Water Management, he implemented several irrigation projects at Maw Ara, Weheragala, Weli Oya, Menik Ganga, Uma Oya, Deduru Oya, Kekiriobadakan Oya, and Yan Oya.

• When Mahinda Rajapaksa became the President of Sri Lanka for the second time in 2010, he appointed Chamal Rajapaksa as the speaker of the Sri Lankan parliament. He served as the speaker till 2015.

  

• In the same year, Chamal left the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and joined Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).

• Chamal took over the charge of the Ministry of Health, Nutrition, and Indigenous Medicine on 9 November 2018.

  

• President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Chamal the Minister of Irrigation & Water Management on 17 August 2020.

  

• Chamal became the State Minister of National Security, Home Affairs, and Disaster Management in November 2020.

  

• Chamal Rajapaksa tendered his resignation from the ministerial appointments that he held on 3 April 2022 after the outbreak of violent protests in Sri Lanka due to the economic crisis.

• Chamal has not only held several key ministerial appointments throughout his journey, but he also has held several non-ministerial appointments such as President of the Sri Lanka – Russia Parliamentary Friendship Association, President of Sri Lanka – Hungary Parliamentary Friendship Association, and Chairman of the District Development Committee, Hambantota.

• While serving as a member of the parliament, Chamal became a member of parliamentary committees like the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security, Sectoral Oversight Committee on Transport and Communication, Sub Committee on Prison Reforms under the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security, Liaison Committee, Ministerial Consultative Committee on Ports & Shipping and Southern Development, and many more.

• In May 2022, during the Sri Lankan crisis, Chamal Rajapaksa stated that Mahinda Rajapaksa should have left politics after he was defeated in the 2015 Presidential elections. While giving an interview, Chamal said,
  

  One should be prepared to give up positions. I believe that Mahinda should have left when he completed his second tenure as the President of Sri Lanka. Failure to do so has led to him having to face the current situation. Being greedy for power leads to situations like what is being faced by us today.”

• Chamal was a football player during his school days, and he was also made the captain of Richmond College’s football team.