Sri Lanka’s controversial former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that ‘many people’ want him to run for the next Presidential Election.

“People living in Sri Lanka and outside the country have asked me to come forward to contest the next Presidential Election,” he said in an interview with the Ceylon Today newspaper.

Citing that the country is today at a standstill, Rajapaksa went on to say that if he becomes President, he will put the current ‘mess’ on the right track. “We are going on reverse, look at the economy and the development. Everything is at a standstill.”

He however added that he has not still decided whether to heed the public’s request to contest the next Presidential Election. “I have not decided yet, but it will depend on the situation and the circumstances. I just cannot plan now. I am not a politician,” he said.

Rajapaksa also claimed that the public opinion today is that there is no leadership in the country. “That’s what many believe. This is not my idea, but theirs. They say there is no one today to lead the people.

They say they don’t know what is happening to this country,” he said.

Rajapaksa added that it was because of ‘them’ that today some Presidents can go to Jaffna and address the public. “We paved the way for that,” he said.