Sri Lanka’s August 2020 parliamentary elections secured a decisive victory of the Rajapaksa-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, yielding Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister alongside his brother, Gotabaya, as president. The consolidation of power between government bodies confirms a staunch Sinhala-Buddhist ethno-nationalist agenda to rule the island.

Only eleven years prior, Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa presided as president and defense minister, respectively, ordering and overseeing the genocide that killed an estimated 70,000–140,000 Tamils in 2009. They stand implicated in egregious human rights violations, including accusations of crimes against humanity and genocide. Over a decade of impunity has engendered their autocratic reign today.

Nearly a month after the shift in Parliament, the Rajapaksas have confirmed plans to abolish the Nineteenth Amendment, which limits presidential powers by imposing term limits, eliminating presidential immunity from prosecution, and requiring parliamentary oversight of presidential appointments. What was once lauded as a revolutionary reform to the Sri Lankan constitution in 2015 is anticipated to be completely undone in a matter of weeks.