Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Friday, May 12, 2017

Sri Lanka: Why Should I Give up US citizenship — Gota

( May 12, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Former defence secretary – Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says he will not give up his US citizenship as he has not decided to enter active politics.
Mr. Rajapaksa was responding to the Sri Lanka Mirror, a Colombo based news portal, with regard to several reports citing that he had decided to give up his US citizenship with the intention of running for the 2020 Presidential election.
The reports also cited that several businessmen close to him are already working on the matter as it would take a lengthy time to revoke the citizenship.
‘My family members are currently living in the US which means that I’ll have to travel to the US often. I also receive a pension which will be lost if I give up my citizenship. Further I have not taken any decision to enter active politics. So, I have no intention of giving up my US citizenship,’ he said.
He further added that despite speculations made by certain reports, revoking the citizenship is not a complex process that takes years to process. It only takes around 2 weeks after a filing a formal request with the US embassy, he said.