Gotabhaya says he will not go home ahead of schedule

President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says he will not step down before the deadline.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, the President stated that he had been given a five-year mandate and would not run for re-election.

"I can not go on as a failed president. I have been mandated for five years. I will not compete again, ”he said.

He has called for the abolition of the presidency or the removal of parliamentary rule, pointing out that there can be no mixture of the two.

"People may blame me when I say this, but it's true," he said.

The President has stated in the interview that if the request for the assistance of the International Monetary Fund had been made a year or six months ago, such a crisis would not have arisen in the country.

He has stated that public servants or members of the security forces cannot be eliminated in order to reduce the cost of resolving the economic crisis.

However, the president has pointed out that spending can be reduced through the suspension of new recruits.

He has further stated that it is his personal opinion that a presidential system exists and that he should be given all the powers.