"I WILL NOT QUIT POLITICS" - MR

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday vowed to continue in politics saying he would not quit even after he was forced to leave his official residence at Wijerama Mawatha in Colombo.

- CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA

Surrounded by supporters and the media, Rajapaksa said, "I will continue politics. I will never quit politics. We were asked to leave, and we are leaving."

His wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa who was seated beside him in the vehicle as they were leaving the premises said she was not sad to vacate and told journalists that she does not usually talk to the media. "I don’t do politics. I just work. I don’t have a story," she said.

As the former president and his wife were leaving the bungalow, they were surrounded by hundreds of his supporters - some who cheered, admiring his decision to leave while others had tears in their eyes to see him return back to his home town.

Rajapaksa's own party slammed the government for resorting to political revenge by ousting him from his official residence saying it was a victory for the LTTE diaspora.

"At a time when the country faces more pressing issues, the government chose to threaten the former President and compel him to leave his residence," Attorney-at-Law Manoj Gamage, spokesperson for the former President told reporters. Gamage further added that the move showed the government's mistreatment of the leader credited with ending Sri Lanka's 30-year civil war.