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Home , Maithripala Sirisena, Sajith Premadasa

Case 2:19-cv-02577-R-RAO Document 48-1 Filed 08/26/19 Page 1 of 4 Page ID #:415

1 JOHN C. ULIN (State Bar No. 165524) 2 [email protected] ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP 3 777 South Figueroa Street, 44th Floor 4 Los Angeles, California 90017-5844 Telephone: (213) 243-4000 5 Facsimile: (213) 243-4199 6 Attorney for Defendant 7 Nandasena 8 [Additional counsel listed on following page] 9 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 11 WESTERN DIVISION 12 13 AHIMSA WICKREMATUNGE , in her individual Case No. 2:19-cv-02577-R-RAO capacity and in her capacity as the legal 14 representative of the ESTATE OF LASANTHA DECLARATION OF MALINDA 15 WICKREMATUNGE SENEVIRATNE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION 16 Plaintiff, TO STAY

17 v. 18 NANDASENA GOTABAYA RAJAPAKSA , 19 Defendant. 20

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DECLARATION OF MALINDA SENEVIRATNE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STAY

Case 2:19-cv-02577-R-RAO Document 48-1 Filed 08/26/19 Page 2 of 4 Page ID #:416

1 Robert N. Weiner (admitted pro hac vice ) 2 [email protected] Raul R. Herrera (admitted pro hac vice ) 3 [email protected] 4 R. Stanton Jones (admitted pro hac vice ) [email protected] 5 ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP 6 601 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001 7 Telephone: (202) 942-5000 8 Facsimile: (202) 942-5999

9 Attorneys for Defendant 10 Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa

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DECLARATION OF MALINDA SENEVIRATNE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STAY

Case 2:19-cv-02577-R-RAO Document 48-1 Filed 08/26/19 Page 3 of 4 Page ID #:417

1 I, Malinda Seneviratne, hereby declares as follows: 2 1. My name is Malinda Seneviratne. I have personal knowledge of and am 3 competent to testify to the matters stated herein by virtue of my status as a journalist and 4 political commentator in . 5 2. I received an education at University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, Harvard 6 University, University of Southern California, and Cornell University. I currently live 7 and work in Kottawa, Sri Lanka. 8 3. The political system in Sri Lanka has three major political parties: the 9 (UNP), the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and the Sri 10 Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). 11 4. The current , , is a member of 12 the SLFP. President Sirisena has not decided whether he will run for re-election in 13 December 2019. 14 5. The current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, , is a 15 member of the UNP. 16 6. On August 11, 2019, the SLPP nominated Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the 17 party’s candidate for Sri Lanka’s December 2019 presidential election. 18 7. The UNP and the SLFP have not decided on a candidate to nominate. 19 8. The UNP has been unable to decide whether to nominate Prime Minister 20 Wickremesinghe or , the deputy party leader. The UNP’s indecision 21 has revealed deep intra-party divisions indicating that the “Wickremesinghe” and 22 “Premadasa” camps are preparing for a protracted battle for the nomination, with no end 23 in sight. 24 9. In light of the SLFP and the UNP being unable to nominate a candidate, 25 Mr. Rajapaksa is the probable victor in the December 2019 presidential election. 26 10. Recent voting patterns strongly suggest that Mr. Rajapaksa is the leading 27 candidate to win the presidential election. The coalition that supported the SLFP and 28 1 DECLARATION OF MALINDA SENEVIRATNE IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STAY

Case 2:19-cv-02577-R-RAO Document 48-1 Filed 08/26/19 Page 4 of 4 Page ID #:418

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