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Al Jazeera

Politics

Saroj Pathirana

Ex-leader Mahinda Rajapaksa will not flee Sri Lanka: Top aide

Mahinda Rajapaksa Gotabaya Rajapaksa Basil Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Al Jazeera Eranga Jayawardena

Sri Lanka's ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa waits to be sworn in as the prime minister at Kelaniya Royal Buddhist Temple in Colombo [File: Eranga Jayawardena/AP]

Colombo, Sri Lanka – The man who paved the way for the Rajapaksa dynasty’s dominance over Sri Lankan politics for over two decades has no immediate plans to flee the country, according to a top aide.

Former President and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, 76, heads the Rajapaksa clan that most Sri Lankans blame for the country’s worst economic crisis in decades that has triggered the ongoing unrest in the island nation.

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