Former President Rajapaksa to return to Sri Lanka as his Singapore visa expires

July 26 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa intends to return to Sri Lanka in the coming days due to the imminent expiration of his visa in Singapore, where he traveled after fleeing the country in the framework of a strong wave of protests against the Government, which has caused strong changes within the Executive.

Cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunewardena confirmed that Rajapaksa intends to return as soon as possible and clarified that Singapore had granted him a 14-day visa during a private visit that began on July 14 and is about to expire. , according to information from the newspaper ‘Daily Mirror’.

Rajapaksa moved to Singaporean territory after his presence in Malaysia, the first country he traveled to after leaving Sri Lanka, sparked controversy and sparked protests against his arrival. Although at first the possibility of him requesting political asylum in Singapore was considered, said information was discarded by the country’s authorities, which do not usually grant this type of status.

This same Tuesday, the Department of Communications of the Parliament of Sri Lanka has indicated that the chamber will meet again this Wednesday to debate the state of emergency declared by Ranil Wickremesinghe when he was interim president of the country.

Thus, the parliamentary session is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m., although everything indicates that the emergency declaration will be endorsed after a debate that could last until 4:30 p.m., as indicated by the Department of Communications.

The decree on the state of emergency was issued on July 17 and published in the Official Gazette of the Asian country before Wickremesinghe was finally appointed president of the country by Parliament. Without the approval of the deputies within less than fourteen days, the declaration will be suspended.