Milinda Rajapaksha

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R. M. V. Milinda Rajapaksha is a Sri Lankan politician, youth rights activist, and public servant. He is also a Youth Leadership Trainer and a Marketing and Communications Strategist. Rajapaksha’s international career includes working for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.^[1]

After working in civil society for a decade, Rajapaksha entered active politics in March 2018 when he was elected as a Councillor at the Colombo Municipal Council, the largest Council in Sri Lanka. Rajapaksha contested through the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, which now has the largest numbers in parliament.^[2] Rajapaksha played a key role as the Official Media Spokesperson for Gotabaya Rajapaksa (no relation) during the run-up to the 2019 Presidential Election,^[3] where Gotabaya was elected President with a landslide victory.^[4]

In 2021, Rajapaksha was appointed as Director of the Media Centre for International Development, established under the Ministry of Mass Media,^[5] as well as the Additional Director-General of the Government Information Department.^[6] He had earlier served as Director of National Youth Services Council, from 2012 to 2015.

Early life and education[edit]

Rajapaksha was born in Werella, Kurunegala, in 1984. Having received his primary education at Maliyadeva Boys College in Kurunegala, he studied Business Management at Wayamba University.^[7]

In 2008, he won a Postgraduate Fellowship to the University of Miami, where he studied Development Communication. This was followed by a degree in Business Administration and Management at Northumbria University in 2013. He gained his MBA from Edinburgh Napier University in 2015.^[8]

Work and career[edit]

Civil society and advertising[edit]

Rajapaksha's career in civil society began when he joined the Asia-Pacific HIV and Human Development Team at the United Nations Development Programme, as a consultant. From December 2007 to January 2010, he played a lead role in various initiatives on empowering women living with HIV AIDS. Rajapaksha worked on organisational capacity building in conjunction with LankaPlus, an institution committed to the welfare of HIV AIDS patients.^[9]

Later, he joined and took the lead at the Youth Coalition on HIV and AIDS in Sri Lanka^[10] and became a member of other initiatives, including YouthLEAD, a regional network committed to advancing HIV prevention;^[11] the South Asia Regional Youth Network at the International Planned Parenthood Federation;^[12] and, as Working Director, the National Youth Services Council.^[13]

After returning to Sri Lanka, Rajapaksha took the lead when Sri Lanka hosted the World Conference on Youth (WCY) 2014 in Magampura.^[14] Rajapaksha co-chaired the Conference,^[15] helped develop content, and initiated several policy discussions.^[16] Being held in an Asian country after a space of many years, the event was seen as a success and a landmark in the history of youth empowerment in the region.^[17] The Conference was attended by more than 120 countries, including Youth Ministers from more than 100 countries.

In 2015, Rajapaksha joined Triad, a Sri Lankan advertising agency, as a Creative Strategist. Later he took up the post of Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya.^[8]

In 2019, he was shortlisted for the One Young World Politician of the Year Award, given by the One Young World institution. He was one of three Asians among a total of 20 candidates who competed for the award.^[18]

Entering politics[edit]

While studying at Wayamba University, Rajapaksha was involved with student union politics, from 2004 to 2008. This, together with his stint as Director of the National Youth Council from 2012 to 2015, marked his first time working in political settings.

Rajapaksha entered active politics in his country when he became involved with the formation of Sri Lanka’s largest political party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, in 2017. A splinter group from the SLFP, the SLPP was then developing well into a national front. Known as Pohottuwa or Lotus Bud,^[19] it campaigned for a complete change in the political culture.^[20] He is a founding member of the party and a prominent member of its youth wing.^[21]

In 2018 he took part in his party's campaign for the post of Mayor of Colombo.^[22] While contesting from a political group heavily associated with nationalism, Rajapaksha emphasized the multi-ethnic character of Colombo in his campaign and the need for sustainable development in the city administration.^[22] His strategy targeted disenchantment with the then SLFP-UNP government, particularly over the Central Bank Bond scandal and progressively worsening economic conditions, as well as allegations of corruption.^[23] By then, he had also taken the lead in forming the SLPP-allied Sri Lanka Youth People's Front.^[24]

Despite his party losing the campaign,^[25] Rajapaksha managed to represent the party at the Municipal Council as a Council Member.^[26] He continued as the Propaganda Secretary of the SLPP Local Council Members' Association. Currently, he is a Board Member of the SLPP Political School.

In August 2018, he was appointed as official media spokesperson for Gotabaya Rajapaksa.^[27] He assumed responsibility for the latter's media and diplomatic engagements at a time when the SLPP had become the object of political controversy.^[28]

Following the 2018 constitutional crisis and the 2019 Easter bombings, Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his presidential candidacy.^[29] Rajapaksha oversaw his campaign, speaking on his behalf to international media.^[30][31] He ended his stint as spokesperson when Gotabaya secured the presidency in November 2019.^[32]

Post-2019 career[edit]

In February 2021 Rajapaksha was appointed as Director of the Media Centre for National Development, where he developed communications strategies for the government's development agenda.^[33] That same year, he was appointed as Additional Director-General at the Government Information Department.^[34]

Rajapaksha contributes articles to the daily and weekly press.^[35] In 2020, at the height of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, he brought together a collection of essays and reflections. Titled Corona Diary, the book focused on events which unfolded after the then president's declaration of a months-long island-wide curfew on March 16, and on the then government's pandemic control campaign.^[36]

In 2018, he became co-convenor of NextGenSL, a cross-party youth political platform.^[37] Since its inception it has organised seminars and discussions^[38] on various issues, including female participation in politics and national security. The organisation often works in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.^[39]

In 2020 Rajapaksha, together with Rasika Jayakody and Thilina Perera, and later Sudewa Hettiarachchi, hosted a popular political TV show called Sri Lanka Next, telecast on Swarnavahini.^[40] Later, together with Jayakody, he hosted a Morning Show on Neth FM.

Rajapaksha remains politically active.^[41] He regularly participates in TV and radio shows and interviews representing the SLPP.^[42]

Books[edit]

අයිතිකාරයො භාර නොගත් ලියුම් සීයක්
One Hundred Misplaced Letters
Sanhinda Books, 2018^[43]

කොරෝනා Diary
Corona Diary
K. S. P. Prakashana, 2020^[44]

දරිද්‍රතාවයේ සිට Samsung දක්වා කොරියාවේ සංවර්ධන මොඩලය ගැන විමසුමක්
From Poverty to Samsung: An Inquiry into Korea's Development Model
KBOOKS Publishers, 2022^[45][46]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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