Rajapakse clan steps up new bid for power
Sri Lanka's election commission yesterday agreed to let the brother of former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse stand in the country's presidential election, despite a string of corruption cases against him.
Gotabhaya Rajapakse is frontrunner in the campaign for the November 16 election, even though his bid is widely seen as a front to get Mahinda, who was the country's leader from 2005 to 2015, back into power.
The eldest of the Rajapakse brothers, Chamal, was a backup candidate in case Gotabhaya was disqualified over his dual Sri Lanka-US nationality.
Gotabhaya is facing several cases over corruption allegations and the validity of his Sri Lankan citizenship. He claims he renounced his US citizenship in April.
Rajapakse's main challenger is housing minister Sajith Premadasa, 52.
Mahinda Rajapakse is barred from contesting the election because of a two-term limit. His time in power was marked by the end of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war against ethnic Tamil rebels, and international concerns about alleged human rights violations by Sri Lankan troops.
Mahinda Rajapakse tried to become prime minister after a parliamentary election in August 2015 and ended up as the leader of the opposition.
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