Sri Lankan Prez Wickremesinghe believes "not right time" for Rajapaksa to return

It is not the right time for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to return to Sri Lanka as his presence here could inflame political tensions in the country which is grappling with the worst economic crisis in history his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe has saidWickremesinghe was elected as the president through a parliamentary vote on July 20 after thenPresident Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives and then to Singapore when antigovernment protesters stormed the Presidents HouseThe sixtime former prime minister who was appointed the acting President after Gotabaya fled the country following a popular uprising against the Rajapaksa family said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that the former presidents return in the current situation could inflame political tensions among tens of thousands of protesters who blame the erstwhile powerful family for the current economic crisisSri Lankas cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena recently said that Rajapaksa 73 was not in hiding and was expected to return soonAlso Read Sri Lankan lawmakers elect Ranil Wickremesinghe as new presidentWickremesinghe who remained in contact with Rajapaksa to deal with administrative handover issues and other government business said the former president had not indicated about his planned return to Sri Lanka soonI dont believe its the time for him to return 73yearold Wickremesinghe said adding that the leader who escaped Sri Lanka in the midst of the economic turmoil had not indicated of returning soonThe new president said Sri Lanka had experienced the worst of its economic crisis and that restoring political stability would allow it to begin turning a corner starting with finalising negotiations for an International Monetary Fund bailout that had stalled due to recent turmoilI think weve already hit the bottom Wickremesinghe said I can see the light at the end of the tunnel its how fast we can get to itThe president acknowledged that it would take months for Sri Lankans who have been facing acute shortage of foreign currency leading to runaway inflation and long queues for essential items such as food fuel cooking gas and medicines to see their economic circumstances improve markedlyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever