Return of ousted leader Rajapaksa seen as a new test for Sri Lanka

His arrival signals new president’s confidence in maintaining order after quelling protests

- Rohini Mohan

Former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is back in Sri Lanka, nearly two months after fleeing the island nation amid mass protests, but he faces calls for charges against him over policy missteps that led to the country’s worst economic crisis.

The 73-year-old returned late on Friday night under the protection of the new government of Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe.

A group of lawmakers and ministers welcomed him at the capital Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport with garlands and flower bouquets.

The government has provided him with a new official residence in Colombo. Police officials and soldiers were there for his security.

Although the authorities had expected a resurgence of the intense citizens’ protests that drove Mr Rajapaksa out, Sri Lankans reeling under severe food and fuel shortages and 65 per cent inflation seem to have responded to his return with a stunned silence. There were no reports of protests on Saturday.