Publication

This paper looks ahead to the 2015 parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, examines the possibility that former president Mahinda Rajapakse may win a seat at the election, and what this could mean for the country. More specifically, the author 1) looks at the presidential elections held in January 2015, which resulted in Rajapakse’s defeat; 2) investigates Rajapakse’s ongoing election campaign and the attitude of the opposition parties towards it; 3) suggests that a potential political comeback by Rajapakse in the 2015 August elections would not only be a reversal of the January election results but that his divisive politics would harm long term peace and stability in the country; and 4) discusses how China and India interpret the political changes in Sri Lanka and how these changes affect the regional strategic contest between Delhi and Beijing.