He entered the then National State Assembly on June 7, 1970 as the youngest member winning the Beliatta constituency for the United Front coalition.

Throughout his political career, he went on to become a Cabinet Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister and then President.

A lawyer by profession, Mahinda Rajapaksa hails from a political family - his father, D. A. Rajapaksa represented the same region of Hambantota from 1947 to 1965.

In 1994, following the election victory of the People's Alliance, Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed Minister of Labour. He held this post until 1997 when, following a cabinet reshuffle, his portfolio was changed to Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

He was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition in 2001.

After the General Election in 2004, Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s 13th Prime Minister on April 6, 2004. While Rajapaksa was the Prime Minister, he also held the Ministry of Highways.

Mahinda Rajapaksa became the fifth Executive President of Sri Lanka in 2004.

President Rajapaksa was elected for a second term of office in the Presidential Election held on January 26, 2010. His re-election took place in the first nationwide election held after the defeat of the LTTE in May last year, and the first where people from all parts of the country were free to participate in more than two decades.