BRIEF ANALYSIS: HOW PABLO ESCOBAR FAILED BUT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA SUCCEEDED?

The Sri Lankan politics had taken a historical turn after Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the Sri Lankan presidential elections 2019 on November 17. Today President Gotabaya Rajapaksa named his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka according to the constitution of Sri Lanka. It is the first time in the history of Sri Lankan politics that two brothers preside over the country's most influential positions. 

The decision by Gotabaya was seen as the action of strengthening Mahinda Rajapaksa's power who was credited for abolishing Tamil Tigers (LTTE) 10 years ago and allegedly killing lakhs of Tamil people during the Civil war that ended on 18 May 2009.

Well, now let us look into the short analysis on how Pablo Escobar, the Columbian billionaire and drug lord who also aspired to become Columbian president in the 1980's failed in his political career but Mahinda Rajapaksa, the son of a well-known politician and an alleged 'War Criminal' succeeded in his political career.

Brief on Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar's image was widely established for his 'Drug Trafficking' activities and reportedly he had killed more than 5000 people between 1989-1993.  He was born in an economically backward family in which his father worked as a peasant farmer while his mother was a schoolteacher. Escobar proclaimed himself as a 'Peace' lover but reportedly he was involved in the murder of thousands of people to retain his drug legacy and gain power in his political career.

In 1983, Pablo Escobar was elected as an alternate member of Columbia congress but shortly after two years, he was forced to resign since he could not prove reasons for his wealth. Later his suspicious and not-so-good background was also revealed by the justice minister. Therefore, Pablo Escobar's political career ended on a failure note in history.

Brief on Mahinda Rajapaksa

Unlike Pablo Escobar, Rajapaksa was born in a political family. His father D.A. Rajapaksa was a well-known politician. Mahinda served as the president of Sri Lanka from 2005-2015. Similar to Pablo Escobar, Rajapaksa also proclaimed himself as a 'Peace' lover but according to 2009-10 Wikileaks report (and various other reports), Rajapaksa was named responsible for the killing of thousands of Tamil civilians (approx) to end the war against Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

Pablo Escobar did not directly contest in the election and was only elected as an alternative candidate by the person who won the 1983 Columbia election. In the case of Mahinda Rajapaksa, he was not an alternative candidate but he has been given the power of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by his own brother Gotabaya after he has won the presidential election.

It has to be mentioned that, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe formally announced his resignation, thus making way for Mahinda Rajapaksa to be sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka way before Sri Lankan parliamentary election that is scheduled on December 1 2020. 

How Pablo Escobar Failed but Mahinda Rajapaksa Succeeded?

Even though Escobar played well with this money, political influence and everything he had, he could not be successful in his political career only because of his convicted  'Drug Lord' image. On the other side, Mahinda Rajapaksa also has enough wealth, political influence but despite his alleged War Criminal record, today, Rajapaksa succeeded in his political career and became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka mainly because of his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

So is it a brother power? Just to remind you, even Pablo Escobar had a powerful and influential brother named 'Gustavo Gaviria' who was beaten to death in the course of his life time.