Sri Lanka: Son of ex-PM says father is not going to flee nation after lethal clashes

The son of Sri Lanka’s ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stated on Tuesday that Rajapaksha is not going to flee the nation after violence erupted following his resignation.

Sri Lanka’s ex-prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa (AFP photograph)

Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa — who resigned as prime minister after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters and sparked a day of violence — is not going to flee the nation, his son informed AFP on Tuesday.

The 76-year-old heads a political clan whose maintain on energy has been shaken by months of blackouts and shortages within the island nation, which is struggling its worst financial disaster since independence in 1948.

Mahinda needed to be evacuated by the army from his official residence on Monday night time after it was besieged by an offended crowd.

But his son Namal, himself as soon as touted as a future nationwide chief, stated the Rajapaksa household had no plans to depart Sri Lanka regardless of weeks of protests demanding they relinquish energy.

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“There are a lot of rumours that we are going to leave. We will not leave the country,” he stated, describing the surge of nationwide anger in opposition to his household as a “bad patch”.

He added that Mahinda wouldn’t step down as a lawmaker and wished to play an lively function in selecting his successor.

Mahinda was taken to an undisclosed location after protesters on Monday night time breached the compound fence at Temple Trees, his official residence within the capital Colombo.

“My father is safe, he is at a safe location and he is communicating with the family,” stated Namal, who served because the nation’s sports activities minister till a cabinet shake-up final month.

The Rajapaksa clan has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for a lot of the previous 20 years.

Mahinda’s youthful brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa stays in workplace as president, with intensive government powers and command over the safety forces.

Weeks of overwhelmingly peaceable protests in opposition to the federal government’s mismanagement of the disaster turned violent on Monday when supporters of Mahinda have been bussed into the capital from the countryside and attacked demonstrators.

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