Will Gotabaya Rajapaksa return to Sri Lanka? The former president had escaped amid the demonstration
About 73-year-old former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, cousin Udayanga Veeratunga said he can still do some service to the country as he did before. Rajapaksa is currently staying in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.
Staff Editor 
Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will return to Sri Lanka on August 24. His cousin Udayanga Veeratunga gave this information on Wednesday. Rajapaksa fled the country amid anti-government protests that lasted more than a month over the economic crisis. Veeratunga, who was Sri Lanka's ambassador to Russia from 2006 to 2015, said that he spoke to me on the phone, I can tell you that he will return to the country next week. He said Rajapaksa could return on August 24. He said the deposed president should not be re-elected to political posts.
Regarding the 73-year-old former President of Sri Lanka, Veeratunga said that but he can still do some service to the country like he had done earlier. Rajapaksa is currently staying at a hotel in Thailand's capital Bangkok, where police have advised him to stay indoors for security reasons.
Gotabaya reached Thailand from Singapore
Rajapaksa arrived in Thailand on a special flight from Singapore on August 11 for a temporary stay before seeking permanent asylum in another country. He reached Bangkok the same day his visa in Singapore expired.
Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha confirmed a day earlier that the Thai government had agreed to a temporary stay of Rajapaksa in the country during which time Rajapaksa would explore the possibility of finding permanent asylum in a third country. The Prime Minister of Thailand allowed Rajapaksa to visit Thailand on humanitarian grounds and said he had promised not to engage in political activities in that country during his search for permanent asylum in another country.
Rajapaksa arrived in Maldives on July 13
The Thailand government confirmed that a request had been received from the current Sri Lankan government for Rajapaksa to visit the country. He went to Singapore in July after leaving the country amid anti-government protests in Sri Lanka. He reached Maldives on July 13 and then went to Singapore where he announced his resignation amid protests over the country's economic crisis. A report in the Daily Mirror newspaper in Sri Lanka said that Rajapaksa would return to Sri Lanka in November after his 90-day Thai visa expired.
