প্রকাশ: 02/09/2022
Sri Lanka's former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected
to return to the island nation some time on Friday, after he fled
anti-government protests in July, a spokesman from the Department of
Information confirmed to The Straits Times.
Other informed sources said his security arrangements were
being worked out.
His return to Sri Lanka after more than a month abroad
suggests that President Ranil Wickremesinghe is confident about maintaining
order after arresting key activists who led the nationwide protest movement
that erupted against Mr Rajapaksa’s financial mismanagement that led to the
country’s worst economic crisis.
The government spokesman declined to give The Straits Times
any more details about the return. But unnamed sources told Bloomberg that the
former leader is expected to stay in a house provided by the government in
Colombo.
Mr Rajapaksa, 73, who was seen as a strongman leader, fled
to Singapore in July via Maldives with his wife in an air force plane as
hundreds of angry demonstrators stormed his official residence in
Colombo.
He formally resigned as president on July 14 after arriving
at Singapore and then moved to Thailand in August. Both countries gave Mr
Rajapaksa visas for short-term private stay. He did not ask for asylum and
neither was he granted one.
When Mr Rajapaksa was abroad, Sri Lanka’s parliament elected
then-acting president and six-time former prime minister Wickremesinghe as the
new president.
Although he is a member of the United National Party, Mr
Wickremesinghe had the backing of Mr Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
(SLPP), the largest bloc in the 225-member parliament.
The irony of the leader’s return to his home country where
thousands chanted the slogan “Gota Go Home” since March demanding his ouster,
is not lost on the protesters.
A senior activist, who spoke anonymously out of fear of
arrest, told The Straits Times: “If Gotabaya returns, ideally he must be held
accountable for his policy mistakes and corruption. But seeing how Ranil acted
against citizen protesters, it’s unlikely that his government will take any
hard steps against Gotabaya.”
Local media reports on Aug 19 quoted SLPP General Secretary
Sagara Kariyawasam as saying that his party had requested the president to
facilitate Mr Rajapaksa’s return and “ensure security and necessary
facilities".
Mr Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda told Sri Lanka’s Sunday Times
in a report published on Aug 21, after four months of silence: “Gotabaya
Rajapaksa is not responsible for all the country’s ills. Everybody including me
and the previous governments would have to answer. Unfortunately, he (Gotabaya)
acted on the advice of the experts he trusted. Therefore, he cannot be blamed.”
Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was former prime minister,
resigned in May during the protests.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's highest court has allowed Mr
Rajapaksa's other brother, former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa to travel
overseas until Jan 15, anti-corruption body Transparency International Sri
Lanka said on Friday.
"Court allowed Basil Rajapaksa to travel overseas upon
a request made by his counsel seeking permission to go for medical check-ups.
He is supposed to return by 15th January 2023," said Transparency
International, which had sought a ban on his travels.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday
provisionally agreed to loan Sri Lanka US$2.9 billion (S$4 billion). The funds
will be disbursed over four years to help stabilise the economy and boost
growth.
Sri Lanka owes more than US$51 billion in foreign debt, of
which US$28 billion has to be repaid by 2028. Its economy has buckled under
dwindling foreign exchange reserves, crippling shortages of essential items and
Asia’s fastest inflation of around 65 per cent.
The IMF programmed will implement major tax reforms, raise
government revenue to support fiscal consolidation, introduce new pricing for
fuel and electricity, hike social spending, bolster central bank autonomy, and
rebuild depleted foreign reserves.
“Sri Lanka needs a government with a mandate to carry out reforms,”
said IMF Mission chief Peter Breuer on Thursday.
A political analyst said there was only "exhaustion" across Sri Lanka in response to news about Mr Rajapaksa's return, with prices skyrocketing and incomes falling, and proxy leaders having offered no respite.
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