Sri Lankan President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, left the country in the early hours of Wednesday on a military plane bound for the Maldives, in a likely prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests over the worst economic crisis in national history.
(Read: Sri Lanka: protesters enter the official residence of the President)
After thousands of protesters stormed his official residence on Saturday, Rajapaksa promised he would step down from his post on Wednesday. and that it would open the way for a “peaceful transition” of power.
(You are interested in: Sri Lanka: President and Prime Minister announce their resignation after protests)
Rajapaksa benefits from presidential immunity and can use it to seek refuge abroad and not be detained at home.
The 73-year-old president left with his wife and a bodyguard aboard an Antonov-32 plane that took off from the main international airport, migration officials said.
A source from the Malé airport confirmed to AFP the arrival of the president, who was transferred to an undisclosed location after landing in the Maldives, a group of islands located southeast of Sri Lanka, in the Indian Ocean.
Their passports were stamped and they boarded the special air force flight
The plane was held for more than an hour on the runway without being able to take off after a mix-up over permission to land in the Maldives, according to airport officials.
A few hours earlier, Rajapaksa had considered the possibility of leaving the country in a navy patrol boat, since the day before he had failed to take a plane to Dubai after a struggle with the immigration service at the airport, according to official sources.
Over the weekend, the president fled his residence under pressure from thousands of protesters who finally entered the presidential complex.
VIP lounge
It was a tense situation, so he decided to leave the airport in a hurry
The president and his wife spent the night before the trip he was seeking to make to Dubai at a military base, according to official sources.
But at the airport immigration officials denied him access to the VIP room to stamp his passport.
Rajapaksa wanted to avoid the public terminal for fear of an adverse reaction from the people. His brother Basil de he, who resigned as finance minister in April, was also unable to board a plane to Dubai.
“Some passengers protested against Basil boarding their flight,” an airport official told AFP.
Cash
Basil, who also has US nationality, had to obtain a new passport after leaving his at the presidential mansion when the family was forced to flee as crowds threatened to enter, a diplomatic source said.
Official sources indicated that they found a briefcase full of documents and 17.85 million rupees (49,000 euros) at the scene, which are now in the custody of the authorities.
If Rajapaksa resigns as promised, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will replace him until Parliament elect an interim president for the remainder of his term, which ends in November 2024.
But Wickremesinghe also does not enjoy legitimacy in the face of the protesters, who have been camping in front of the presidential secretariat for more than three months to demand the resignation of the president. The prime minister has announced his readiness to resign if a consensus is reached to form a unity government.
Rajapaksa is accused of mismanaging the economy, leading the country into chaos and a deep crisis due to the lack of foreign currency, which makes it impossible to finance imports of essential products for the population of 22 million inhabitants.
Sri Lanka declared a 51 billion dollar debt moratorium in April and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan.
In addition, the country almost exhausted its fuel reserves and the government ordered the closure of non-essential administrations and schools to reduce displacement.
AFP
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