‘The Terminator’: how Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ruthless streak led him to power
Sri Lanka’s new leader oversaw brutal operation that ended civil war but left 40,000 dead
Even his own family nickname him “The Terminator”.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the 70-year-old retired lieutenant colonel who will be Sri Lanka’s next president, has built his reputation on being efficient and ruthless, whether that was in his role in crushing the Tamil separatist movement, which kept Sri Lanka in civil war for 25 years, or through his urban development of the capital Colombo.