73-year-old Gotabaya Rajapaksa is currently in a Bangkok hotel with his wife
Colombo:
A media report said former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country last month amid anti-government protests, was demanding his resignation, to return to the US and settle there with his wife and son. Waiting to get a US Green Card. Thursday.
The Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror, citing highly-placed sources, claimed that Rajapaksa’s lawyers in the United States had started the process for his application to obtain a green card only last month because he was leaving his wife Loma Rajapaksa in the US. were eligible to apply. Citizen.
In 2019, Rajapaksa renounced his US citizenship to contest the 2019 presidential election.
Rajapaksa took early retirement from the Sri Lankan Army and went into the field of information technology, before immigrating to the United States in 1998. He returned to Sri Lanka in 2005, in the process now his lawyer in Colombo will also submit additional documents. to go ahead with the process, the daily said.
The report said the 73-year-old former president, who is currently in a Bangkok hotel with his wife, will return to Sri Lanka on August 25, scrapping his initial plans to stay in Thailand until at least November.
The daily said that two days ago, Rajapaksa consulted with his lawyers and decided to return to Sri Lanka at the end of this month after he was not allowed the freedom to relocate to Thailand due to security concerns.
Upon arrival in Bangkok, Thai police advised the deposed president to stay indoors for security reasons.
The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that police officers in plain clothes of the Special Branch Bureau were deployed to ensure Rajapaksa’s security at the hotel, the location of which has not been disclosed.
The officials had asked the former Sri Lankan president to stay in the hotel during his stay in the country.
The report said the cabinet would discuss providing Rajapaksa an official residence and security for a former president upon his return to Sri Lanka this month.
Rajapaksa fled to Maldives last month and then fled to Singapore. He entered Singapore on a medical visa and extended it twice to stay there for as long as possible. As his visa could not be extended further, Rajapaksa and his wife left for Thailand and were assured that he could stay there until his third destination was finalised.
At the same time, the Thai government had made it clear to Rajapaksa that he should not engage in political activities while staying in the country.
Although his movement is now restricted in Thailand, he will return to the country, the report said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)