President Elect Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is to swear in before the Anuradhapura- Ruwanweli Maha Seya at 11 am today as the 7th executive president of Sri Lanka.
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born on 20 th June 1949 to former Cabinet Minister D. A. Rajapaksa
and Dandina Dissanayake Rajapaksa.
He is the 5 th sibling in a family of 9 and is the brother to 5 th Executive President of Sri Lanka and current Leader of Opposition, Mahinda Rajapaksa,
Chamal Rajapaksa, former Speaker of the Parliament and Basil Rajapaksa, former Cabinet Minister.
He was educated at Ananda College, Colombo and joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1971.
During his military service, he earned a Master’s Degree in Defense Studies from the University of Madras and underwent advanced training in Pakistan, India and the USA.
Having commanded many anti-terrorist operations in the North and East of Sri Lanka, he was awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama and Rana Sura Padakkama Medals for Gallantry and Excellence in combat.
He also received commendations from the President of Sri Lanka and the Commander of the Army for his bravery in action. After retiring from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1991, Rajapaksa studied Information Technology at the University of Colombo where he attained a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka in 2005 with the election of his brother, HE Mahinda Rajapaksa as the 5 th Executive President of Sri Lanka and was appointed as Secretary to the Ministry of Defense on
25th November 2005.
He was instrumental in ending the three decades long terrorist conflict in Sri Lanka through an expertly conceived and skillfully coordinated military strategy.
Following the end of the conflict, he swiftly restored normalcy to the country, whilst taking steps to further consolidate national security.
The SLPP presidential candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was elected as the 7th President of Sri Lanka by securing 6.9 million and 24 thousand 255 votes.
It is 52.25 per cent in the total votes that cast in the poll.
His rival, Sajith Premadasa was able to secure 5.5 million and 64 thousand 239 votes.
His percentage in the total vote count is 41.99.
Meanwhile, Anura Kumara Dissanayake who emerged third was able to secure 418 thousand 553 votes with a percentage of 3.16