Sri Lanka’s ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to Singapore fearing reprisal at the hands of the masses, extended his stay in Singapore by another 14 days, news agencies reported.
News agencies Straits Times and Ada Derana said that the short-term visit pass issued by the Singapore government to the former president will now expire on August 11. When he arrived at the city-state on a ‘private visit’ two weeks ago, he received the short-term pass which will expire soon.
The Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority told news agency Bloomberg that visitors from Sri Lanka on social visits are issued a short-term pass for 30 days and are eligible for an extension.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former first lady Ioma Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa landed in Singapore on July 14 after masses were baying for his blood in the streets of Colombo. He was set to resign the same day but expecting backlash for landing Sri Lankans in an unprecedented economic crisis, he first fled to Maldives in a military plane and then to Singapore.
After his departure, Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected Sri Lankan president defeating Dullas Alahapperuma in a parliamentary vote.
The recent development is in contrast to claims made by cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena earlier this week. Gunawardena, according to Bloomberg News, said: “To my knowledge he is expected to come back.”
The spokesman, however, did not specify a specific return date. He also pointed out that the former president was not in hiding or in exile.
Another Sri Lankan government official told news agency Bloomberg that Gotabaya sought to return home as soon as possible. He added that the former president wanted to relocate to his private residence in the outskirts of Colombo.
Sri Lanka, however, continues to witness protests and is under an emergency imposed by current president Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe’s imposition of emergency means that protesters can now be detained and arrested. Long queues at petrol pumps, food insecurity and lack of essential medicines continue to haunt Sri Lankans.
Protesters, who are demanding a total overhaul of the Sri Lankan political establishment and the Executive Presidency, have not taken kindly to Wickremesinghe’s appointment.
They believe that Wickremesinghe is sympathetic to the Rajapaksas - with some sections calling him Ranil Rajapaksa - and does not have a plan to help Sri Lanka emerge from this crisis.
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