Former President’s spokesperson dismisses reports of a heart-related emergency as false, while sources close to family confirm hospitalisation, raising questions over the source of conflicting claims
By The Pulseline News Desk
Conflicting reports over the health of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa have triggered questions within the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), after claims that he had been admitted to a private hospital in Colombo were publicly denied by his spokesperson.
Reports circulated on Monday (12) morning claiming that Rajapaksa had been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Nawaloka Hospital following a sudden heart-related medical emergency. The reports also stated that he had undergone a series of medical examinations in recent days.
The media unit of Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa was initially cited as confirming the reported hospitalisation.
However, Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage, the former President’s media spokesperson, has rejected the reports, describing them as entirely false.
In a statement to the media, Gamage has accused political opponents of spreading what he has described as false and malicious rumours to portray the former President as weakened by the Government’s actions against his family.
He has maintained that Rajapaksa remained physically and mentally strong, adding that even the imprisonment of members of his family would not undermine him as a political leader.
The conflicting accounts have reportedly exposed tensions between factions associated with Mahinda Rajapaksa and his son, Namal Rajapaksa, within the SLPP. However, the circumstances surrounding the circulation of the initial reports and the alleged divisions between the two camps have not been independently established.
The reports emerged amid heightened political attention surrounding the Rajapaksa family, following the arrest of former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) on October 7. She was subsequently remanded until October 13 in connection with an investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving the Siriliya Saviya organisation.
The investigation concerns allegations that Rs. 10 million obtained through the organisation from the National Savings Bank (NSB) was intended to purchase a CT scanner for the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, but that the equipment was never supplied and the funds were misappropriated. These remain allegations subject to legal proceedings.
Reports also indicated that Mahinda Rajapaksa had planned to visit Namal Rajapaksa, who is being held at Welikada Prison, and his wife Shiranthu before the former President was reportedly taken ill.
Gamage has questioned the motives behind the circulation of the hospitalisation reports, challenging those responsible for spreading them.
The central question remains who initially circulated the reports, why they were published, and how conflicting accounts of the former President’s health has emerged.
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