September 5 JO protest: Gota in and Basil out!

Former Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said he will join the Joint Opposition (JO) ‘Jana Balaya’ protest to be held on September 5. While he has stayed away from mainstream politics to date, however, he now claims he will join in as the country is heading towards disaster. 

“The political environment borders on anarchy with our nation hurtling towards disaster. Professionals and intellectuals can no longer look away. We have heard it said that evil will triumph when the good remain silent” he was quoted as saying. 

Meanwhile, Basil Rajapaksa will give the protest a miss on Wednesday. Confirmed by his brother, Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at an event held at the BMICH yesterday, Rajapaksa said Basil will not come to Sri Lanka in order to attend the protest. “He is, however, doing a significant amount of work from there,” he said. 

However, when asked if younger brother Gotabaya will be in attendance, Rajapaksa feigned that he was unaware of such a possibility. “Maybe he will turn up on the day,” he said asking the media personnel to pose the question to Gotabaya himself. “Ask him if he will attend,” Rajapaksa said.