Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka on 24
Colombo, Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country after a mass agitation over rising inflation and the bad condition of the economy, may return to the country next week. The Sri Lankan newspaper ‘Daily Mirror’ quoted Gotabaya’s cousin as saying that he would return to the country on August 24. Gotabaya fled Colombo to Singapore and resigned from the presidency from there.
From Singapore he went to Thailand. However, his brother Veeratunga, who was Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Russia from 2006 to 2015, has said – Gotabaya spoke to me on the phone. I can tell you that they will return to the country next week. He should return to the country. People will welcome him. But he will not stay in politics. There is no such thing as Mahinda Rajapaksa in them. He is not the right person for politics.
Meanwhile, the ruling party has urged the new Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to provide security and other help to Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his return. However, according to news agency Reuters, Wickremesinghe has no news of Gotabaya’s return. Significantly, on July 9, the general public took possession of the President’s residence and the Prime Minister’s residence. After that Gotabaya ran away leaving his government house.
After leaving Sri Lanka, Gotabaya along with his family first fled to Maldives on July 13. After that reached Singapore. He reached Thailand on 12 August after a 28-day stay in Singapore. The Government of Thailand had made it clear that the former President of Sri Lanka had sought permission to visit the country. He has been given a visiting visa at present. The statement also said that 73-year-old Rajapaksa has been granted a visiting visa on humanitarian grounds. The special thing is that Thailand’s visa has been given conditionally. According to the statement given by the government of Thailand – Rajapaksa can try to get permanent asylum in another country by staying here, but he will not be able to take part in any political activity related to Sri Lanka from here.
