Who divisive legacy of Sri Lanka’s/

He is the president who denied us our  and had no interest in steering this country towards peace. In the past few months, he also robbed the future of the next generation and crippled the entire country,” she  , a retired school teacher from , says he used to swear by the  because the two brothers  and  were able to bring the civil war to an end.“There was peace finally and people could move about freely without fear. But he had no plan beyond that and that is why Sri Lanka has now been declared bankrupt,” he told Al Jazeera.“He lacked foresight and vision. There are allegations of corruption as well. He has failed the entire country, including the Sinhalese he pledged to serve, and finally it is the Sinhalese who brought his regime to an end he said.Nepotism project’Post-independence Sri Lanka has been ruled by a handful of families. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a member of one such family. , the executive director of the Colombo-based Institute for Democratic Reforms and Electoral Studies, says  was not elected to the presidency “due to some unique ability or service rendered” but because it was a “family project”.“The  stranglehold on Sri Lankan politics was also the country’s largest nepotism project,”  told Al Jazeera.“He rode to office having whipped up communalism and drew support from those who did not believe in democracy or democratic governance. Part of his legacy is the crushing of democratic voices and spaces to improve on his nepotistic project,” he said.“But his ouster shows the resurgence of democratic forces within Sri Lanka and the public anger against nepotism, undemocratic practices and political arrogance. Pethiyagoda is a top Sri Lankan scientist, winner of the prestigious  Medal for zoology in 2022, and a public policy advocate. up Rajapaksa’s legacy, he said: “His presidency was defined by ignorance, obstinacy and an inability to communicate effectively with his people. He prohibited modern agriculture, forcing two million farmers into destitution. He printed trillions of rupees while denying a causal link between money supply and inflation. He obstinately refused to yield to expert advice that these ‘innovations’ would destroy the economy.“And for 31 months of his presidency, he didn’t hold a single press conference, relying instead on delivering poorly scripted speeches  a teleprompter. All this, haunted by the ghosts of journalists murdered on his watch,” Pethiyagoda told Al Jazeera. 2005 and 2015, at least 13 journalists were murdered in Sri Lanka, press watchdogs say. Among those was government critic and founding editor of The Sunday Leader,  Wickrematunge, whose assassination  to . trial is ongoing in the People’s Tribunal at   where incriminating evidence has beengiven to implicate him. , a human rights lawyer and researcher, told Al Jazeera the Sri Lankan leader is facing serious allegations of rights violations both during and after the civil war.“These are documented widely and some of these cases have both locally and internationally. This indicates he has had an entrenched role in these violations. These cases could not  partly due to his immunity and partly due to the weaknesses in the justice system in Sri Lanka,” she said. said the leader will always be linked with serious violations committed against citizens of the country and that he will never be able to escape that legacy.“He has fled and is expected to resign, but the citizens must remember his role in all these transgressions, demand accountability and explore options both in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. The resignation will result in the loss of immunity and this will make it somewhat easier to hold him accountable,” she said.