Both former Sri Lankan presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Mahinda Rajapaksa have praised Ranil Wickremasignhe’s recent fiery interview with Deutsche Welle, where the current president repeatedly denounced any prospect of an international investigation into rights abuses or the Easter Sunday bombings.
Wickremesinghe drew widespread flak on social media for his performance in the interview, where he repeatedly clashed with the presenter. When the journalist pressed Wickremasinghe on the possibility of an international inquiry, he replied, “[The] Sri Lankan government doesn’t have international inquiries. Full stop. We will not have international inquiries into any issue".
“You were also once someone who spoke firmly to foreign media," a journalist asked Mahinda Rajapaksa last week. "Now Mr Wickremesinghe has reached that same level. What do you make of that?”
“That’s good," replied the elder Rajapaksa sibling. "It’s how it should be done."
"We can’t dance to the tune of Channel 4,” he added, referring to a documentary released last month where witnesses testified Sri Lankan state intelligence were involved in the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
According to IBC Tamil, Gotabaya Rajapaksa also praised Ranil Wickremesinghe’s performance by saying,
“Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation. There is no space for powers outside of the country to intervene. No decision can supersede the Parliament. Ranil continues to respect the decisions made by the Parliament. He is truly an excellent leader.”
