Sri Lanka’s Gotabaya Rajapaksa returns home after humiliating exit from the country

Disgraced former executive president Gotabhaya Rajapakse (GR) of Sri Lanka returned to Sri Lanka from his self-imposed exile over the last weekend.

This chaotic situation led to the civilian taking over of Presidential House and the Presidential Secretariat in an unprecedented wave of civilian demonstrations ever seen in post-independent Sri Lanka. 

The 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka was taken to a safe house in Male, Maldives by a Sri Lanka Air Force carrier which even brought the wrath of people on SLAF Commander Air Marshal Sudharshana Pathirana. During his short stay in Maldives, the opposition party of Maldives raised concerns with their government for accommodating ousted president of Sri Lanka in Maldives. The country hopping GR’s next stop was Singapore.  In Singapore too, the reception was not healthy for him and his spouse.

Meanwhile, back in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government was accused of funding the ousted President’s overseas hotel accommodation and other expenses. However, GR’s stay in Singapore was a little more than one month. He and his spouse were granted an extension of Visa by the Singaporean government at the request of the Sri Lankan government. It was an unequivocal fact that the Sri Lankan government was still backing for GR’s safety. This has in fact dismayed the people of Sri Lanka but now they have limited options. 

GR then proceeded to Thailand for safety. Thailand government however assured that he would be allowed to stay in the country as long as he would be safe to return to Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, GR and spouse opted to return to Sri Lanka after over one month of self-imposed exile obviously with the blessings of the Sri Lankan government. It is not clear as of now whether he would be planning for a comeback to domestic politics. But, he has very remote chances of doing it given the situation in the country today. He still stands out in favor of the people.