Former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa claims "foreign and local parties" responsible for his ouster
Colombo [Sri Lanka], March 7 (ANI): Claiming that certain foreign and local parties were always intent on ousting him from power, former Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that foreign intervention has become "more common in Sri Lanka today", News Wire reported. In a media release on Wednesday, Gotabaya announced the publication of his book titled "The conspiracy to oust me from the Presidency," and stated that it explains the first-hand experience of an internationally sponsored regime change operation. News Wire is a Sri Lanka-based media publication. "From the time I was elected President in November 2019, certain foreign and local parties were intent on removing me from power. The entirety of my two and a half year tenure in power was spent combating the COVID-19 pandemic that swept through Sri Lanka and the whole world soon after I took office," the release quoted the former Sri Lankan President as saying. "Conspiratorial forces commenced the political campaign to oust me from the presidency at the end of March 2022 after the pandemic had been brought under control, the vaccination campaign had been concluded and just when the economy was beginning to recover," he said, according to News Wire. According to Gotabaya, foreign meddling in domestic affairs and intervention has become "more common in Sri Lanka today" than they were during the nation’s first sixty years of independence. "The political campaign to oust me brought a new element into the politics of Sri Lanka which has since independence experienced only peaceful transfers of power following elections. As such the events of 2022 are fraught with serious implications for the future of this country. What this book explains is the first-hand experience of an internationally sponsored regime change operation," Gotabaya said. The onetime leader fled Sri Lanka as the country’s economic crisis fuelled angry protests. Rajapaksa resigned after protesters angered by a debilitating economic crisis stormed his office and residence. Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka in the early hours of July 13, 2022. He resigned as president after reaching Singapore, where he was issued a 14-day visit pass. He had fled to Singapore via the Maldives. After his stay in Singapore, he fled to Thailand. Gotabaya returned to Sri Lanka in September 2022 after fleeing the country in July 2022. (ANI)