Former President parliamentarian Mahinda Rajapaksa told reporters, after participating at a religious event in Ibbagama, that no action by the government will separate him from the people.

“Not this, if they take every single security officers away from me, they will not be able to stop me from moving with the people,’ the former President said.

The announcement comes on the heels of a government decision to recall 42 officers attached to the Ministerial Security Division (MSD) attending to the former President on May 3.

Law and Order Minister Sagala Rathnayake denied rumours the reduction was politically motivated, saying instead it was based on a bi-annual threat assessment.

The Law and Order Minister also pointed out that the former President’s security detail was merely reduced from 229 to 187.