Sri Lanka’s ousted president – Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is expected to arrive in Thailand on Thursday, ‘Reuters’ reports.
Citing two sources that have requested anonymity, Reuters say that Mr. Rajapaksa is expected to leave Singapore and go to Thailand’s capital Bangkok on Thursday.
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thai government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek told Reuters “no comment”.
Rajapaksa fled to Singapore on July 14, via the Maldives, following unprecedented unrest triggered by Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in seven decades and days after thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence and office.
He had then resigned from the presidency, becoming the first Sri Lankan president to quit mid-term.
Rajapaksa’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has previously indicated that the former president should refrain from returning to Sri Lanka in the near future.
“I don’t believe it’s the time for him to return,” Wickremesinghe told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on July 31. “I have no indication of him returning soon.”
(Excerpts : Reuters)
