The number of registered political parties in Sri Lanka is approximately 70. It was alliances led by the United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party which had acquired ruling power of the country from among these parties. However, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna became a party that changed the history of politics. Anyone can register a political party. Nevertheless, creating a party with proper planning, recruiting members and travelling forward step by step and transforming the party into a massive tree is not an easy thing to do. At the same time, not stopping there and generating an Executive President from the party and establishing a government with a two-thirds majority is also an arduous task. Today, the person who took on all of those burdens and changed the history of Sri Lankan politics, the silent planner or the big brain, former Minister and National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, Basil Rajapaksa celebrates his birthday.
The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna captured ruling power of the country in a short period of three years or exactly 1102 days, according to Basil Rajapaksa’s plans. Founder of the party and National Organizer Basil Rohana Rajapaksa provided for the operation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna capturing ruling power of the country in a short time, together with the former executive President, present Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
From the defeat of 2015 onwards the people’s force which was being built around the former Executive President Mahinda Rajapaksa requested that a new political party be set up and ruling power of the country be captured and to take the country towards a path of speedy development while establishing the country’s security. The responsibility of creating a new political party was assigned to his brother Basil Rohana Rajapaksa by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He fulfilled that responsibility. The people’s attraction surrounding Mahinda Rajapaksa was methodically organized and the big brain behind the scenes which was responsible for bringing into power the current President was Basil Rajapaksa.
There were baseless allegations that it was Basil Rajapaksa who was responsible for the defeat at the 2015 Presidential Election. Basil Rajapaksa who left for America after the Presidential Election returned to the Motherland and said during a certain television programme that if anyone says that Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated because of him, he will accept the responsibility of bringing him back to power. The Government of Good Governance who was aware of the fact Basil Rajapaksa was a born expert in turning the election machine, began making baseless allegations and imprisoned him from time to time.
While in Prison, Basil Rajapaksa created the official symbol of the new party the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Upon leaving prison, Basil Rajapaksa gathered together members of the United People’s Freedom Alliance, local government institutions, Chairmen, members of Provincial Councils and Parliamentarians who loved Mahinda Rajapaksa and took on the grave responsibility of transforming the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna into a massive political campaign.
The United National Party launched their Presidential Election campaign saying that they will hang the Rajapaksas from the four corners of Medamulana. However, subsequent to the final media briefing held at Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo two days prior to the Presidential Election, Basil Rajapaksa told media personnel that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa would gain victory with a majority of votes between 1.3 and 1.5 million votes at the Presidential Election. That turned out to be true. It was not simply an empty statement made by Basil Rajapaksa about the majority of votes for victory in the Presidential Election. That was an instance where his political maturity was displayed.
