Gotabaya back home, special security, bungalow from govt

Colombo: Sri Lanka's former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been given special security and a state bungalow for accommodation on his return here from Thailand where he fled amid months-long mass protests over the country's worst economic crisis, officials said on Saturday.

 Rajapaksa, 73, was accorded a warm welcome as he returned to Colombo from Thailand amid tight security on late Friday. He was festooned with flowers by a welcoming party of ministers and politicians as he disembarked at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport from Bangkok via Singapore.

The former president wanted to move into his private residence at Mirihana in Colombo's eastern suburb of Nugegoda. However, security considerations prevented him from going to his private residence where he always lived even after becoming the president in 2019, officials said.

After being welcomed by lawmakers of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, Rajapaksa left the airport in a motorcade heavily guarded by armed soldiers and was driven to the posh Colombo residential area of Cinnamon Gardens where a state-maintained bungalow was provided to him, they said.

Rajapaksa will be living in a state bungalow close to Wijerama Mawatha area in Colombo while a large security contingency will be deployed to maintain security in the area, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported. Former presidents are constitutionally guaranteed a house, personal security and staff after they leave office. Earlier, the duty manager of the airport said that the former president arrived in the country at around 11.30 PM on Friday aboard a Singapore Airlines flight.

 “He will not be involved in politics despite many of the party members expecting him to start politics again,” a source from the ruling SLPP told EconomyNext website after confirming Rajapaksa's arrival.

 “Many core party members are also against the former president coming into parliament using the national list. They do not want him to become the leader again. He has not committed any crimes. So, he has all the rights to return to the country and all privileges as the former president,” the report quoted the source as saying. Rajapaksa's return is a sensitive issue for the new government led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe which does not want more protests and will need to ensure his security.

 "We are not opposed to the return of Mr Rajapaksa. Any Sri Lankan citizen can return to the country," Father Jeewantha Peiris, a prominent protest leader, told the BBC. "People came to the streets because of the alleged corruption against his government. We don't have any personal enmity against him," Peiris said.