By Mallika Soni courtesy Hindustan Times

Gotabaya Rajapaksa US Citizenship: In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had renounced his US citizenship to contest the presidential polls.

Sri Lanka’s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa applied for restoration of his US citizenship, a report claimed. This comes as he failed to get asylum in any country, the report said. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled Sri Lanka in July last year. He then returned after nearly two months. Although, the US government is yet to consider the request, The Sunday Times newspaper reported.

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In 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had renounced his US citizenship to contest the presidential polls owing to Sri Lankan constitution rules which state that dual citizenship holders are barred from contesting elections.

The former president has appealed for the restoration of his US Citizenship after he failed to seek asylum in any country upon fleeing Sri Lanka. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had left Sri Lanka on July 13 last year during the anti-government protests in 2022. He then went to Maldives after which he travelled to Singapore and Thailand.

“An appeal by his lawyers to the US government — more pointedly the Department of State to restore his citizenship, which he renounced to contest the November 2019 presidential election, has still not been considered,” the report said.