Extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk Gnanasara enters Sri Lanka's parliament

by Thusiyan
Aug 8, 2020

The extremist leader of the Sinhala nationalist organization Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), monk Gnanasara, has been appointed to Sri Lanka’s parliament through the national list.

He has been appointed through the “Our Power of the People Party,” which received 67,758 votes and was allocated one national list seat. 

Gnanasara is known for stoking anti-Muslim violence, has been accused of hate crimes, and was pardoned in 2019 by President Sirisena. He is on the record saying that the North-East is not the Tamil homeland and promotes the idea of Sri Lanka as a Sinhala Buddhist country.

Earlier this year, Facebook banned Gnanasara from its platform due to his racist rhetoric.

This appointment is just one piece of the larger majoritarian landslide seen in the parliamentary election. The Rajapaksas now have the majority they need to amend the constitution, after winning over two thirds of the votes based on a Sinhala nationalist campaign.

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