Sri Lanka’s former president Mahinda Rajapaksa said he was in a “struggle against neo-imperialism” and vowed never to allow “terrorism” on the island, in a wide ranging interview with The Week earlier this month.
Rajapaksa, who oversaw a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils, said that there “are elements, both local and foreign, who do not want to see me coming back to power”.
“These are elements that seek to control Sri Lanka’s destiny,” he added. “The people of this country see me and the political movement that I lead as the only force capable of preventing foreign domination. We are now in a struggle against neo-imperialism.”
He went on to explicitly call out Western governments for attempting to engineer a change in regime on the island, stating,
“The fact that some western powers were heavily involved in the recent political crisis in Sri Lanka was quite obvious. They never tried to hide the fact that they are interfering in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.”
Rajapaksa also singled out current prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, adding,
“Some western powers back Wickremesinghe because he is completely subservient to them. Wickremesinghe does not seek the approval of the people of Sri Lanka; he seeks approval from the western embassies in Colombo.”
The former president went on to add that the current president Maithripala Sirisena on the other hand “has been a friend and colleague for decades”. Though the two went up against each other at the 2015 presidential election, Rajapaksa claimed “we shared the same political ideology”.
“He left us over certain differences,” he said. “These things do happen in politics. He has now rejoined his original camp, which is more in alignment with his own political outlook. Both sides will forget the past and look to the future.”
Rajapaksa was also confident that his party would triumph in this year’s elections, calling it “inevitable”. “The people are waiting for us to come back to power” he said. “After an election, that is.”
See the full interview with The Week here.