AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s ruling party nominated a scion of the controversial Rajapaksa family yesterday to challenge the incumbent president in next month’s polls, the first since the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown.

The Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party named Namal Rajapaksa, 38, as its candidate in the September 21 election at a Buddhist ceremony at their party office in the capital Colombo.

“After careful consideration, the party decided to make Namal Rajapaksa our presidential candidate,” SLPP Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam said.

Namal, a former sports minister under his father Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, which ended in January 2015, said circumstances forced him into the fray.

His uncle, Gotabaya, also won the presidency in November 2019, but was forced to resign and flee the country in 2022 following months of protests over corruption and mismanagement.

It was widely expected that the 38-year-old Namal would run only at the 2029 presidential polls because of the lasting impact of the country’s economic ruin under Gotabaya.

“Now we have to sit and plan the campaign, because this is something that I didn’t expect,” Namal Rajapaksa told AFP shortly after the formal announcement of his candidacy.

He put his name forward after the expected candidate, businessman Dhammika Perera, dropped out on Tuesday citing “personal reasons”.