Former finance minister and National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), Basil Rajapaksa, left for Dubai early on Monday (May 07) aboard an Emirates flight, as per Ada Derana reports.
He reportedly jetted off for Dubai from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and is expected to travel to the United States from Dubai.
The younger brother of ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was as per reports, accompanied by his wife.
According to Ada Derana, a spokesperson from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna said that Rajapaksa is on a brief visit to the US and is scheduled to return to the island shortly.
Basil Rajapaksa and his US citizenship
Earlier this year, Basil Rajapaksa had said that he was ready to give up his US citizenship as he believed it was an ‘obstacle’ to his political career and depriving him of the opportunity to serve the nation.
“I am ready to give up my US citizenship if dual citizenship was an obstacle to my future political activities. I am also ready to remove any other legal obstacle so that I can work for my people,” he said during a television programme.
Basil said Ranil Wickremesinghe achieved the two key requirements for which he was appointed the Sri Lankan President.
“Due to the ‘Aragalaya,’ we were unable to step outside of our houses and several properties of politicians were attacked and burned down by the public. But Wickremesinghe has changed that situation,” news portal Newswire.lk reported, quoting the former lawmaker and the national organiser of SLPP.
Since he assumed power, Wickremesinghe was also able to resolve the key issues of fuel shortages and frequent power cuts, he said.
“At present, we are not facing any of those social issues. We believe he is an individual who has the capacity to resolve such issues and he has proven so,” the report quoted him as saying.
Last year, after the protests by officials and passengers at the Bandaranaike International Airport, Basil was prevented from leaving Sri Lanka.
Then later, in September 2022, Basil was permitted by Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court to travel to the United States to receive medical treatment.
Ahead of the 2019 presidential elections, Basil’s elder brother Gotabaya, formerly a dual citizen of both Sri Lanka and the US, had to renounce his US citizenship.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the 76-year-old patriarch of the Rajapaksa family has been the country’s president and prime minister.
He was also compelled to resign in May amid the anti-government demonstrations in the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
