After 52 days of self-exile, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday, 2 September, returned to Sri Lanka weeks after he unceremoniously fled the nation amid unrest over severe economic crisis, reports said.
Rajapaksa had fled to Singapore and then gone to Thailand in July as huge mobs of protesters took over the presidential palace. While in Singapore, he appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe as his successor, who later won the trust vote in the Assembly to be officially appointed president.
An official told news agency AFP that Rajapaksa was "garlanded by supporters" as he came out of the aircraft at Colombo's Bandaranaike International Airport from Bangkok via Singapore, and was flanked by ministers and politicians welcoming him.
"There was a rush of government politicians to garland him as he came out of the aircraft," the official told AFP.
A defence official told AFP that a new security division has been created to protect Rajapaksa following his return from a Thai hotel where he had to live as a "virtual prisoner."
While the Opposition has targeted Wickremesinghe for shielding the Rajapaksas amid the turmoil in the country, several activists have hinted at pressing charges against the former president.
'Will Not Be Involved in Politics'
A source from the ruling me Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) told EconomyNext that Rajapaksa “will not be involved in politics despite many of the party members expecting him to start politics again,” 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 will be living in a state bungalow close to Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo while a large security contingency will be deployed to maintain security in the area, Daily Mirror reported.
Parliament Passes Interim Budget
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Parliament passed the interim budget presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe for 2022 on Friday, a day after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced it will provide a loan of about USD 2.9 billion to help the crisis-hit country tide over its worst economic hardships.
A total of 115 members in the 225-member assembly voted in favour while the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) abstained from voting.
Wickremesinghe aimed for tax reforms while allowing relief to the most vulnerable groups affected by the ongoing economic crisis in the country.
The interim budget introduced a number of tax reforms pertaining to income tax, value added tax (VAT), telecommunication levy and betting and gaming levy. VAT rate will be increased to 15 percent from the current rate of 12 percent with effect from September 1 this year.
It was only in June that VAT was hiked to 12 percent from 8 percent.
Wickremesinghe, who is also the finance minister, said the implementation of these proposals will help increase the revenue and gradually reduce the printing of money for government expenditure.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)