Lanka Ex President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Who Fled Amid Unrest, Returns

Former President Sri Lanka who was overthrown by Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to the country Friday, an airport official said, seven weeks after he fled in the middle of the worst economic crisis on the island.
Rajapaksa was decorated with flowers by a group of friendly ministers and politicians when he got off at the main international airport, the official added – in a sign of his eternal influence in the Indian Ocean critics said he caused destruction.

“There is a flow of government politicians to peel it when he gets out of the plane,” the official told AFP.

Rajapaksa fled from Sri Lanka under the military escort in mid-July after an unarmed crowd invaded his official residence, after months of anger demonstrations blamed him over the economic crisis of the country that had never happened before.

He sent his resignation from Singapore before flying to Thailand, where he had submitted a petition to his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe to facilitate his return.

The 73 -year -old leader arrived from Bangkok through Singapore with commercial flights, ending a 52 -day independent exile.

“He has lived in a Thai hotel as a virtual prisoner and wants to return,” a defense official, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

“We have just created a new security division to protect it after returning,” added the official.

“This unit consists of elements from the Army and Police Command.”

The opposition politician accused Wickremesinghe of protecting the Rajapaksa family who was once strong.

The Sri Lanka Constitution guarantees bodyguards, vehicles and housing for former presidents, including Gotabaya and his older brother and fellow former President Mahinda.

The resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa ended his president’s immunity, and the rights activists said they would suppress their arrests with various accusations, including the alleged role in the murder of the prominent newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge 2009.

“We welcomed his decision to return so that we could bring him to court for the crime he had committed,” said Tharindu Jaywardhana, a spokesman for the Association of Young Journalists Sri Lanka.

Rajapaksa also faced charges in courts in the state of California US for the killing of Wickrematunge and torture of Tamil prisoners at the end of the traumatic civil war on the island in 2009.

– Tight security –

Singapore refused to expand Rajapaksa’s short -term visa and he traveled to Thailand in August, but the authorities in Bangkok instructed him not to leave his hotel for his own safety.

Rajapaksa’s youngest younger brother, Basil, former Minister of Finance, met with Wickremesinghe last month and asked for protection to allow leaders who were overthrown to return.

On Friday, the police deployed officers in civilian dressed and armed guards outside the residence of the government allocated for Rajapaksa in Colombo before his arrival.

Security in his private home was also increased, said officials, added that he was expected to first visit the family residence.

Sri Lanka has experienced several months of shortage of important goods including food, fuel and medicines, along with a long power outage and skyrocketing inflation after running out of foreign currencies to finance important imports.

Pandemi Coronavirus gave a hammer blow to the island’s tourism industry and dried money from Sri Lanka who worked abroad – both of them were looking for the main foreign exchange recipients.

Rajapaksa, who was chosen in 2019, who promised “Scenery of Prosperity and Slevenness”, saw his popularity in the doubt when it was difficult to multiply for 22 million people in the country.

The government is accused of introducing non -continuous tax deductions that encourage government debt and worsen the crisis.

Wickremesinghe was elected by parliament to see the rest of Rajapaksa’s term of office. Since then he has fallen against street protests and captures leading activists.

The government failed to pay for a foreign debt of $ 51 billion in April and the central bank estimated an eight percent GDP contraction record this year.

After months of negotiations, international monetary funds agreed on Thursday with a $ 2.9 billion bailout package to improve the sri Lanka battered finances.