The 73-year-old president was humiliated. He fled the country on a military plane that landed in the Maldives.
The political dynasty of Rajapaksa dominated her political affairs Sri Lanka from the 2000s until April, when civil protests sparked by massive fuel and food shortages spiraled out of control.
Early today the Gotabaya Rajapaksathe president of the island nation of 22 million people, fled the country with a military aircraft that landed on Maldives. His departure means that no family member is left in a position of power.
The head of state vowed just last month to remain in office until the end of his term in 2024, despite the popular uprising. But thousands of citizens stormed the president’s official residence on Saturday, forcing him to flee into hiding before finally agreeing to tender his resignation.
He is expected to confirm that he is leaving power within the day.
The 73-year-old president, Mr once powerful defense ministerhad already tried to leave the country on Tuesday when he was humiliatingly expelled from its international airport Colombo. Finally, an Antonov An-32 military aircraft took off early today (local time; yesterday evening Greek time) carrying him, his wife and a bodyguard, immigration officials said.
“This had to be done one day,” commented a 73-year-old protester, a retired engineer, as he wandered around the grounds of the prime minister’s official residence, where Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current president’s older brother and predecessor, previously lived. Now, the building has been occupied by protesters.
“They robbed the people of everything,” said the septuagenarian, but with the Rajapaksa dynasty, notorious for its nepotism, now leaving power, “we will become the best country in the world in the near future,” he assured.
THE Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa he resigned in May, consequently his son Yoshid ceased to be his chief of staff. His other son Namal, his elder brother Chamal and his younger siblings Basil and Sasindra quit their ministerial posts in April.
Some of President Rajapaksa’s advisers were planning the escape of himself and his relatives in a Navy patrol car, a source close to the Ministry of Defense said.
THE former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who is also a US citizen, was also prevented from leaving the country on Tuesday by immigration officials, who were concerned about the backlash if they let him go.
The Asian nation is now short on dollars for fuel imports, has declared a $51 billion foreign debt default for the first time in its history, inflation hit 54.6% last month and is expected to climb even higher , while schools, public services and private businesses were closed to conserve fuel.
Sri Lanka, once upon a time Ceylonis experiencing its most serious political and economic crisis since its independence in 1948. The situation does not even compare to the period of the brutal civil war with the separatist Tamil Tigers, which was crushed by the army led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa, once a military man, at the time Minister of Defense in 2009.
The current crisis is mainly attributed to the new coronavirus pandemic, which crippled the tourism sector and drained migrants’ remittances abroad. The Rajapaksa-promoted tax cuts blew a huge hole in state revenue, while a ban on chemical fertilizers also hit the primary sector before it was lifted.
Conversations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reach a loan deal are not expected to be completed until later this year or early in the new year, prompting the government to seek more help from neighboring India and China.
Parliament is expected to elect a transitional president on July 20.
THE Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also offered to resign. If he does, the speaker of parliament will take over as acting president for a few days, under the Constitution, until an election is held.
Sri Lanka has entered “uncharted territory, we have never seen this level of instability” in the country, summarizes Bhavani Fonseka, an analyst at the Center for Policy Alternatives think tank in Colombo.
“Unless both the president and the prime minister resign, we must expect prolonged instability. What we have seen so far will be nothing compared to what could happen.”he warns.
As long as he has not resigned, as he promised to do today to allow for a “peaceful transfer of power”, Mr Rajapaksa still enjoys full legal immunity.
The president of the parliament has not yet received the resignation of the head of state. A source close to the president said he would send it “in the evening”.
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