The 73-year-old leader returned from Bangkok via Singapore. (File)
Colombo:
Sri Lanka’s ousted former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, returned to the country on Friday, seven weeks after he fled during the worst economic crisis ever, an airport official said. present day of the island.
Rajapaksa was decorated with flowers by a welcome party of ministers and politicians as he descended from the main international airport, the official added – in a sign of his lasting influence in the region. Indian Ocean nation, critics say he has led to ruin.
“There were a lot of government politicians who came to lay wreaths for him when he got off the plane,” the official told AFP.
Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka under military escort in mid-July after unarmed mobs stormed his official residence, following months of angry protests blaming him for the economic crisis. unprecedented in the country.
He submitted his resignation from Singapore before flying to Thailand, from which he petitioned his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe to facilitate his return.
The 73-year-old leader arrived from Bangkok via Singapore on a commercial flight, ending his 52-day exile.
An unnamed defense official told AFP: “He lives in a hotel in Thailand as a virtual prisoner and would love to go back.
“We have just established a new security department to protect him after his return,” the official added.
“The unit consists of elements from the military and police commandos.”
Opposition politicians have accused Wickremesinghe of shielding the once powerful Rajapaksa family.
The Sri Lankan constitution guarantees bodyguards, vehicles and housing for former presidents, including Gotabaya and his brother and former president Mahinda.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation ended his presidential immunity, and human rights activists have said they will press for his arrest on a variety of charges, including his alleged role in the case. assassinated the editor of the popular newspaper Lasantha Wickrematunge in 2009.
Tharindu Jayawardhana, spokesman for the Young Journalists Association of Sri Lanka, said: “We welcome his decision to return so we can bring him to justice for the crimes he has committed. cause”.
Rajapaksa also faces charges in a court in the US state of California over Wickrematunge’s murder and the torture of Tamil prisoners at the end of the island’s traumatic civil war in 2009.
– Tight security –
Singapore refused to extend Rajapaksa’s short-term visa and he arrived in Thailand in August, but authorities in Bangkok instructed him not to step out of the hotel for his own safety.
Rajapaksa’s youngest brother, Basil, a former finance minister, met Wickremesinghe last month and asked for protection to allow the deposed leader to return.
On Friday, police deployed plainclothes officers and armed guards outside a government residence allocated to Rajapaksa in Colombo before his arrival.
Security at his private home has also been beefed up, officials said, adding that he is expected to visit the family residence first.
Sri Lanka has endured months of shortages of vital goods including food, fuel and medicine, along with prolonged power outages and skyrocketing inflation after it ran out of foreign currency to fund other items. essential imports.
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a blow to the island’s tourism industry and has dried up remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad – both of whom earn a lot of foreign currency.
Rajapaksa, who was elected in 2019 promising “a backdrop of prosperity and splendor”, finds his popularity dwindling as hardships multiply for the country’s 22 million people.
His government was accused of introducing unsustainable tax cuts that increased government debt and exacerbated the crisis.
Wickremesinghe is elected by parliament to see the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term. Since then, he has cracked down on street protests and arrested leading activists.
The government defaulted on foreign debt of $51 billion in April, and the central bank forecasts GDP will shrink by a record 8% this year.
After months of negotiations, the International Monetary Fund on Thursday agreed to a $2.9 billion conditional bailout to repair Sri Lanka’s dilapidated financial situation.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a collaborative feed.)
