{"id":172043,"date":"2016-12-29T23:04:39","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T17:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=172043"},"modified":"2017-01-03T11:33:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-03T06:03:00","slug":"ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President and current Parliamentarian, Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> has vowed to topple the Yahapalanaya Government in 2017 and reclaim power. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the President, but I can still rule the country, without being the President,\u201d he said, hinting at hopes of becoming Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Speaking to foreign journalists, Rajapaksa said that even though the current coalition government enjoyed a two thirds majority in Parliament, there is a strong possibility of \u2018change\u2019 in the future. \u201cConflicts are already brewing within the SLFP and UNP, and this country can\u2019t go on like this,\u201d he said.\"mahinda\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo via Facebook Shihar Aneez<\/em><\/p>\n

When a journalist asked if Rajapaksa was willing to become Prime Minister under incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena and work under him, Rajapaksa said that if Ranil Wickremesinghe can do it, why can\u2019t he. \u201cAfter all I have known him since the 1970s,\u201d he said of Sirisena, his former friend turned foe.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, the journalists who were invited for the discussion with the former President were served hoppers, which were the same food Sirisena ate with Rajapaksa, the night before his announcement where he broke ranks from Rajapaksa and announced his candidature at the 2015 Presidential Election, which he won, defeating his former leader, Rajapaksa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":172044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nI\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-29T17:34:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-03T06:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/\",\"name\":\"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-29T17:34:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-03T06:03:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2016-12-29T17:34:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-03T06:03:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/","name":"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-29T17:34:39+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-03T06:03:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg","width":960,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/ill-be-back-to-rule-sri-lanka-mahinda-rajapaksa-declares-while-serving-hoppers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I\u2019ll Be Back To Rule Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa Declares While Serving Hoppers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Mahinda-.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172045,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172043\/revisions\/172045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}