Namal featured in a BBC article

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Namal Rajapaksa was featured in a BBC article written by Charles Haviland which was published just prior to the election on bbc.co.uk. We publish excerpts of the article below:

By a huge banyan tree in the town of Tangalle, Namal Rajapaksa is meeting the people outside the family home.

A crowd clusters around the 23-year-old candidate and presidential son. Each person seems anxious to tell him their problem. They clutch school admission certificates and town council documents.

Namal is young but is already being groomed for great political things.

I’ve come to Namal for help in rebuilding our temple which was ruined by the tsunami,” says an orange-robed Buddhist monk. “Namal seems to do a lot for the people.”

A woman holds her young disabled boy in her arms. She needs funds to treat him.

“He can’t speak or walk. I felt Namal would help us because he loves kids. I’m confident he will help me.”

One armed soldier is on the parapet just above. Namal, however, listens to the people, promises action – and nuzzles the babies’ cheeks.


The article goes onto feature views of several persons and ends with the following:

Back in Tangalle, Namal Rajapaksa finishes his street meetings and warmly invites us into his home. There are no security checks on us and we sit in the hallway for a chat. He denies being part of yet another typical South Asian political dynasty.
“This is the 21st Century,” he says. “People are more educated now. I don’t think family politics will play a role. As long as you work, you be with the people… you love the country, you will be elected.

“It’s a matter of who you are, not what you are.”

We are ushered in for an audience with the president himself, who is sitting in a small study. He is completely informal. We chat, though largely off-the-record. He does not look at his watch.

Namal Rajapaksa tells us he is still referred to as Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son. But he hopes Mahinda will one day be known as Namal Rajapaksa’s father.

The 23-year-old politician with the common touch clearly wants to go far.

You can read the full article here.

Permalink | April 18th, 2010

2 Responses to “Namal featured in a BBC article”

  1. Freeman Says:
    June 16th, 2010 at 3:46 pm

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    С уважением,…

  2. Konstantin Says:
    June 19th, 2010 at 11:07 pm

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