In This Biography

Basil Rajapaksa Biography, Age, Career, Politics, Family, Salary, and Net Worth.

Who is Basil Rajapaksa?

Basil Rohana Rajapksa is a Sri Lankan-American prominent politician. He is a former Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament for the national list. From 2007 to 2015, he was a member of the Sri Lankan Parliament. During the period 2005 to 2010, he served as a presidential advisor for President Mahinda Rajapaksa whereas in 2007 he was appointed as a member of parliament from the national list. In President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second term, he was the Cabinet minister for Economic Development.

In the 2010 parliamentary election, he was elected from the Gampaha district by receiving the highest number of preferential votes in Sri Lanka. Thus, he entered the parliament again from the national list and was appointed the Finance Minister during which he was accused of extreme negligence and mismanagement resulting in the worsening of the Sri Lankan economic crisis, and was ultimately forced to resign under increasing protests by the general public in the 2022 Sri Lankan political crisis. On June 9, 2022, he resigned his seat in parliament.

How Old Is Basil Rajapaksa?

He is 71 years old as of July 2022, having been born on April 27, 1951, in Sri Lanka. Basil shares his birthdate with celebrities such as; Lizzo, Markie, Fernanda Villalobos, Froy Gutierrez, Patrick Stump, and many more.

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Basil Rajapaksa Family

Who are Basil Rajapaksa Parents?
He was born to D.A. Rajapaksa (Father, born on November 5, 1905, but died on November 7, 1967) a Sri Lankan politician and a Member of Parliament. And Dandina Rajapaksa (Mother).

Does Basil Rajapaksa have Siblings?

He has three brothers by the name Chamal Rajapaksa (born on October 30, 1942) a Sri Lankan Politician, Gotabaya Rajapaksa (born on June 20, 1949) a Sri Lankan politician and a former military officer, and Mahinda Rajapaksa (born on November 18, 1945) a Sri Lankan politician.

Basil Rajapaksa Education

He received his education at Isipathana College and Ananda College.

Basil Rajapaksa Marital Status

He is married to the love of his life Pushpa Rajapaksa.

Basil Rajapaksa Kids

He and his wife Pushpa have three kids. By the name Thejani Rajapaksa, Bimalka Rajapaksa, and Asanka Rajapaksa.

Basil Rajapaksa Political Career

He contested Mulkirigala Electorate at the 1977 General Elections from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party but was defeated. Thus he was the youngest SLFP candidate that contested in this election In the 1977 election, only 8 members managed to win from the SLFP. Later, he worked with the first executive President J.R. Jayewardene and joined the United National Party. Therefore, he made his decision to join the UNP due to some infighting with Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

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Although he was with JR Jayawardana, he openly supported his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa. During his time in UNP, he became very close to the minister Gamini Dissanayake. He and his wife in1997 won the US green card lottery and thus migrated to the USA with his family. He therefore frequently visited Sri Lanka, especially whenever there were elections. In the 2005 Presidential election campaign, he actively worked for his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa’s victory and became an advisor for the President.

Career Continuation

Next, he was appointed as a national list member for the Sri Lankan parliament in 2007. When the 2010 parliamentary election was announced. he contested the Gampaha district. He thus gained over 400,000 votes in the district he became a member of Parliament who obtained the highest number of preferential votes from the district. In 2021, he was appointed Finance Minister and returned to the parliament from the national list.

During his time as minister, Sri Lanka had entered an economic crisis but he began avoiding parliament sessions for months. As a result, the opposition complained that pressing economic matters could not be disclosed due to his absence. Moreover, other government MPs were also critical of his behavior with Udaya Gammanpila, the energy minister claiming that Basil refused to accept that an economic crisis was growing and that Basil knew nothing about his subject. On April 5, he finally attended parliament after an absence of 4 months and after being forced to resign after a series of protests against the government.