Evicted Rajapaksa signals he’s still in the game

• As Speaker endorses new law at the speed of summer lightning, former presidents are stripped of privileges
• Rajapaksa decries what he calls ‘political terrorism’, but NPP says it’s the fulfilment of a campaign promise
• SJB plans petition against Speaker after he refuses to entertain No-Confidence Motion against deputy minister; Parliament in uproar
• Powerful political message behind Chinese ambassador’s meeting with Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe; did instructions come from Beijing

By our Political Desk

The adoring crowd of supporters, journalists eager for a quote, and television crews and photographers looking for that perfect shot surged around the car carrying former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his wife Shiranthi as they left their official residence on Wijerama Road, Colombo 7, on Thursday afternoon. “What is there to say? They asked us to leave, so we are leaving,” said Mr Rajapaksa in reply to a question from a journalist as to what he had to say to the media as he departed for Carlton House in Tangalle.

Read more on the Sunday Times political column here