Spurned by a strong popular movement, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa left his country early Wednesday aboard a military plane heading for the Maldives. The 73-year-old leader, who vowed to step down and had unsuccessfully attempted to leave the country on Tuesday, took off with his wife and a bodyguard in an Antonov-32, officials told AFP. immigration services.
The president had announced that he would resign on Wednesday to allow a “peaceful transition”. He had escaped from his presidential palace on Saturday under pressure from the street, and had been transferred to an air base near the international airport.
Protesters in the presidential palace
Gotabaya Rajapaksa is accused of having mismanaged the economy, leading to the inability of the country, in lack of foreign exchange, to finance the most essential imports for this population of 22 million inhabitants.
Protesters have occupied the presidential palace since Saturday. They discovered 17.85 million rupees (49,000 euros) in new banknotes there and handed them over to the police. And they announced that they would not leave the premises until the effective resignation of the president.