After an unexpected defeat in January’s presidential elections, ex-President Mahinda Rakapaksa, who ruled Sri Lanka for over nine years, is seeking a comeback. Often criticized in the West for alleged human rights abuses during Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war against the Tamil Tigers, which came to a close in May 2009 after more than 25 years, Rajapaksa has been formally accepted to stand as a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections in August.